U.S. Disaster Recovery System Faces Potential Disruption Due to Californian Wildfires
Wildfires Ravage Los Angeles, Testing Disaster Recovery System
A series of devastating wildfires have swept through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Ten people have tragically lost their lives, and more than 10,000 structures have been destroyed. Thousands of acres continue to burn, with an estimated 62,000 structures currently threatened.
The fires, which have been described as hurricane-strength, are a stark reminder of the changing climate reality. These unprecedented blazes are forcing us to rethink our strategies for mitigation and recovery. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna has likened some areas of the city to scenes of devastation, saying they look "like a bomb was dropped in them."
The disaster budget for 2024 has allocated $110 billion for disaster recovery, including funds for the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) programme. This programme is a crucial source of community recovery, particularly for low-income communities and those without private resources for rebuilding. However, gridlock in Congress last year caused delays in CDBG-DR appropriations.
The federal recovery funding distributed from 2015 to mid-2024 was used for fourteen major wildfires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent a total of $4.8 billion on recovery assistance for public spaces across these fires, averaging $342 million per fire. However, the agency's Public Assistance Program is most accustomed to responding to major water events, not large-scale fire events with tens of thousands of people applying for assistance for total structural loss not covered by insurance.
State Farm, one of the largest insurance companies, has reportedly dropped approximately 1,600 policies for homes in Pacific Palisades, a neighbourhood with a median home price of $3.1 million. Many homeowners in Los Angeles have been dropped from fire insurance policies since 2020, adding to the challenges faced by those affected by the wildfires.
The Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire are the two most destructive fires to hit Los Angeles and remain mostly uncontained. Local fire departments, the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), FEMA, and state and local government agencies have made expenditures for the reconstruction of public spaces after major wildfires in California.
Disasters can spur adaptation, including not rebuilding in some places to a climate that's already on our doorstep. The disaster recovery system in the United States is being tested like never before, and it's clear that radically new ways of thinking about mitigation and recovery will be required to meet the challenges posed by these hurricane-strength fires.
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