The forest fires that hit Los Angeles at the beginning of the year could be the costliest disaster in the history of the United States, the governor of California said this Sunday (12). In an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press program, Gavin Newsom said the fires are the worst the country has ever seen “in terms of associated costs and scale.”
Another important point in the Democratic Party politician’s statement is that the number of confirmed deaths is expected to rise beyond the 16 reported as of Saturday night.
No official estimate of the costs caused by the fires has been released, but the meteorology company AccuWeather released, last Thursday, the forecast of losses of between US$ 135 billion and US$ 150 billion. Last year, financial damage associated with Hurricane Helene reached $250 billion.
The forecast that the Santa Ana desert winds would intensify this Sunday discouraged authorities. The weather is expected to hamper firefighting until at least Wednesday, according to Anthony Maroney, Los Angeles fire chief. “Weather conditions remain critical,” Michael Traum of California Emergency Services.
United States President Joe Biden promised that the federal government would pay for all damage caused by the disaster and would ask Congress for financial help. President-elect Donald Trump – who threatened to withhold California’s disaster funding in his campaign – has yet to comment on the assistance.
California is a stronghold of the Democratic Party and Newsom is Trump’s political rival, which quickly put the fires at the center of a political dispute. Without naming names, the president-elect once again criticized the local government this Sunday. “Incompetent politicians have no idea how to put out (the fires in LA)” he wrote on social media.
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(With information from Estadão Conteúdo)
