Biden Offers Federal Aid To Cope With ‘Catastrophic’ Fires

Article content

(Bloomberg) – President Joe Biden said he is increasing government aid to California as the state grapples with wildfires that are devastating communities and urged Gov. Gavin Newsom not to waste money in fighting the deadly blazes.

Article content

Article content

“The damage is catastrophic,” Biden said Thursday as he and Vice President Kamala Harris received a briefing from administration officials about the fire that broke out in the Los Angeles area and sought to reassure citizens of the response to the disaster that challenged their administration. its last days.

Article content

The president said he had increased federal funding to cover 100% of the cost for 180 days and that he was using all US government resources to help the region, including 400 additional firefighters and more than 30 helicopters and firefighting planes. The Ministry of Defense has also authorized 500 firefighting personnel, he added.

Biden also thanked Canada, saying the united nation had received more firefighters and firefighting equipment.

The fire has killed at least five people and put nearly 180,000 under evacuation orders as the Los Angeles region faces its worst natural disaster in decades. More than 29,000 hectares have burned and the two largest fires are out of control.

Hurricane-like winds in recent days have fanned the flames, destroying neighborhoods in Pasadena and Pacific Palisades on the coast. Wildfires are poised to be among the costliest in US history, costing insurers more than $20 billion, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts. The fires likely caused between $52 billion and $57 billion in damages and economic losses. , according to the first estimate by AccuWeather Inc.

Article content

Article content

Biden said it’s impossible to fully estimate what the cost will end up being, but he predicted that removing burned communities would be more expensive.

“We will continue with it. We are still holding on to this,” said Biden, as he admitted that the next few days will be critical.

“We expect there may be a temporary break in the winds, but in some areas, the winds may continue well into next week, so we’re going to continue to use everything, literally every resource we can find appropriate to help the governor and first responders.”

Previous: LA Wildfire Costs Double to $20 Billion Overnight to Insurers

Biden said lawmakers will need to step up with an emergency aid package, and said he hopes that President-elect Donald Trump will prioritize aid.

“We’re going to go back to Congress asking for more help on some of these things, and I hope they’re ready to step up,” Biden said.

Harris, who was born in the state and has a home in Brentwood – a suburb west of Los Angeles – and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, called the situation in southern California “apocalyptic.”

Article content

The vice president highlighted the uncertainty facing first responders as they deal with the weather.

“We’re really waiting to see which way the wind blows,” Harris said.

The president was in Los Angeles earlier this week to mark the unveiling of two new national monuments and attend the birth of his grandson but was forced to cancel the monument-focused event due to weather. He also canceled plans to leave Thursday for Rome and Vatican City, his last scheduled trip abroad as president, to focus on directing the government’s response.

On Wednesday, Biden visited a fire station in Santa Monica, California, near Newsom.

Trump, who is awaiting his inauguration on January 20, criticized Newsom and Biden for the disaster, citing the problems firefighters faced with water pressure as they battled the massive Palisades fire.

“Now a huge price is being paid,” Trump wrote, calling the fire “a true tragedy.”

—Courtesy of Akayla Gardner.

(Updates with additional comments from Biden in sections seven, ten, and eleven.)

Article content