As rescue workers continue looking for those missing in the deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, real estate investors, mostly from the American mainland, have seen an opportunity to cash in on the disaster for land development, triggering anger among local Native Hawaiians.

The wildfires that broke out last Tuesday and razed Maui have left 110 people dead and more than 1,000 people missing as of Wednesday. The cause of the wildfires, already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, is under investigation.

The fire destroyed or damaged more than 2,200 buildings, 86 percent of them residential, and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage, authorities said.

However, since the fires began, real estate developers have approached the survivors whose properties were damaged in the blazes, offering to buy their property, according to social media posts and media reports.

"One of the struggles we will see in this community is the big land buyers are going to buy us out," ninth-generation Hawaiian Archie Kalepa told CNN in an interview recently.

His concerns are justified.

Tammy Kaililaau, a Maui resident, told USA Today that the home she had lived in for 20 years was burned to the ground, and within a week, she got a Facebook message from someone in real estate.

Mark Stefl, a 67-year-old fire survivor in the historic town of Lahaina, told the same outlet that developers had approached him, and the offer felt like a hit while he was down.

Another resident Richy Palalay told the Associated Press that he was worried that investors would seize the opportunity to pay a lower price for the land locals lived on to build expensive resorts.

"I'm more concerned of big land developers coming in and seeing this charred land as an opportunity to rebuild," said Palalay.

Some residents have turned to social media to warn each other of purchase inquiries or potential scams.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green's office said in a news release on Monday that concerns were rising over the threat of potential scams because "residents are being approached about selling fire-damaged home sites by people posing as real estate agents who may have ill intent."

The governor said he had asked the state's attorney general to consider imposing a moratorium on the sales of damaged or destroyed properties on Maui.

More Native Hawaiian community leaders showed their fury against the greedy attempts.

"The fires of today are in part due to the climate crisis, a history of colonialism in our islands, and the loss of our right to steward our 'aina and wai' (land and water). The same Western forces that tried to erase us as a people now threaten our survival with their destructive practices," a statement from Carmen Lindsey, chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, read.

"It is very disrespectful to those who lost loved ones and to Hawaii as a whole to make offers to purchase property at rock-bottom prices. It is disrespectful to even bring it up at this time, at any price," said attorney and Native Hawaiian leader Mona Bernardino during an interview with Xinhua.

(With input from agencies)