AccuWeather, a private forecasting agency in the United States, announced on Wednesday (January 8th) that the wildfires in Southern California have become one of the most severe in history. Preliminary estimates suggest that the destruction and economic losses caused have exceeded 50 billion dollars.
Since this Tuesday, fueled by strong winds, several wildfires in Los Angeles have been raging, resulting in at least five deaths, the destruction of thousands of buildings, and causing a continuous shortage of firefighting resources and water supply.
As a result, neighboring states including Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, and Utah have been sending personnel to assist California in extinguishing the fires.
AccuWeather estimates the current economic losses to be around 52 to 57 billion dollars. The company added that if the fires spread to densely populated communities, losses would have to be further adjusted.
Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, stated, “If in the coming days a large number of buildings are destroyed, looking at the number of structures burned and the economic losses, this could potentially become the most severe wildfire in modern California history.”
In comparison, the total destruction and economic losses caused by the 2023 Maio Island fire were estimated to be around 13 to 16 billion dollars.
The White House announced on Wednesday that President Biden has officially approved a major disaster declaration for California, providing federal resources to the survivors of the series of wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
The White House also mentioned that President Biden would be canceling his trip to Rome to focus on overseeing federal actions to address the California wildfires.
Karine Jean-Pierre, a spokesperson for the U.S. White House, stated, “President Biden met with police, firefighters, and emergency responders who have been battling the historic wildfires in the region and approved the major disaster declaration for California.”
“After returning to Washington tonight, President Biden decided to cancel his trip to Italy, continuing to concentrate on directing comprehensive federal response actions in the coming days,” she said.
Biden was originally scheduled to visit Rome on Thursday to meet with Pope Francis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
In a statement, J.P. Morgan expressed their belief that insurance losses from the fires could reach around 10 billion dollars.
“We expect the majority of the losses to be related to homeowner’s insurance, with much lower losses in commercial insurance.”
Due to strong winds and low humidity making it difficult to control the fires, firefighters have spent several days trying to prevent the wildfires from spreading. Here is an update on the current fire situations provided by California authorities:
– Palisades Fire: Burning an area of at least 15,832 acres with a 0% containment rate.
– Eaton Fire: Burning an area of at least 10,600 acres with a 0% containment rate.
– Hurst Fire: Burning an area of at least 855 acres with a 10% containment rate.
– Lidia Fire: Burning an area of at least 348 acres with a 40% containment rate.
– Sunset Fire: Burning an area of at least 60 acres with a 0% containment rate.
Additionally, earlier firefighters reported that they had fully contained the Woodley Fire. The high winds previously grounded helicopters, but as wind speeds decreased, helicopters have resumed flights to drop water and fire retardant to control the flames and protect property.