Governor says California fires could be costliest disaster in U.S. history
The California wildfires could be the costliest disaster in U.S. history, the governor said, as forecasts of strong winds raised fears of further spread of catastrophic blazes.
In remarks to NBC Meet the media On Sunday, Gavin Newsom said the fire, which has burned more than 40,000 acres, according to CalFire, the state’s forestry and fire protection division, “just in terms of the costs associated with it, is going to be The worst fire the country has ever experienced.” [and] In terms of scale and scope”.
He added that “more” deaths could be confirmed. The death toll on Saturday night was 16, according to Los Angeles authorities.
Winds in Santa Ana are likely to intensify on Sunday, intensifying the fires and prompting evacuation orders for tens of thousands of residents. The blaze threatened homes in the upscale neighborhoods of Mandeville Canyon and Brentwood, but officials said they were making progress in stopping its spread.
The National Weather Service predicts wind gusts of 50 mph to 70 mph, but drought conditions remain.
“We know severe fire conditions will continue into Wednesday,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Maroney said Sunday.
Los Angeles is experiencing its second driest rainy season in more than a century, according to the nonprofit Cal Matters news service. We are halfway through the rainy season, and Los Angeles has only recorded about 0.2 inches of rainfall since October, far below the 4.5 inches common in January.
Newsom, a Democrat, responded to a series of attacks from Donald Trump. The incoming Republican president accused the governor of depleting water reserves to protect endangered fish and refusing to sign a “water recovery declaration” that would “allow millions of gallons of water to be used…” . . flowing into many areas of California every day.” Newsom’s office said no such statement existed.
Trump, who has long feuded with Newsom and called him “Newsom,” also called on Californians to resign, accusing him of “gross incompetence.”
“State reservoirs in Southern California are completely full,” Newsom said.
“I don’t think this kind of misinformation and disinformation is good or helpful to any of us,” he added. “We’re going to have another month of responding to Donald Trump’s insults. I’m familiar with them. Every elected official he disagrees with is very familiar with them.
Newsom also said that he has invited the president-elect to visit the affected areas, but has not yet received a response from the Trump transition team.
Firefighters have put out three fires since Tuesday, including the Sunset Fire that threatened the Hollywood Hills. The Hurst Fire in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles was 80% contained Sunday afternoon.
But firefighters are still working to extinguish the two largest blazes. Newsom said on social media platform X that the Palisades and Eaton fires were 11% and 27% contained, respectively. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to fight the Palisades Fire, using heavy trucks and air support, the mayor’s office said Sunday. The city also opened shelters to affected families.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has staff in Los Angeles to help Angelenos apply for disaster relief, while the federal Small Business Administration offers home and business disaster loans.
Newsom issued an executive order that he said would prevent those who lost their homes from being “stuck in bureaucratic red tape” so they could rebuild quickly.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday raised the possibility of U.S. troops being sent to Los Angeles to help control the fires.
“Active duty military personnel have received readiness to deploy orders and are ready to commit and continue to support firefighting efforts,” Deanne Criswell told ABC. this week Program. Speaking on CNN, she warned that strong winds expected in the coming days could further spread the fires.
No official estimate of the damage has been released, but AccuWeather analysts last week calculated the economic damage at between $135 billion and $150 billion, down from the $250 billion in damage caused by Hurricane Helene last year. At least 12,300 structures were destroyed, according to Cal Fire.
U.S. President Joe Biden pledged on Thursday that the U.S. government will pay “100% of all costs” caused by the disaster and will ask Congress for more financial aid.
Trump threatened to withhold disaster relief funds from California during last year’s campaign but has so far remained silent on whether similar aid will be provided. On Sunday, he again attacked state officials.
“Incompetent politicians don’t know how to deal with [the fires] Come out,” he wrote. “There was death everywhere. This was one of the worst disasters in our country’s history. They just couldn’t put out the fire. What happened to them?
