Los Angeles Under Threat as Three Wildfires Burn
Three wildfires are burning around Los Angeles—including one more powerful than any other to strike the region in recent history. The most destructive windstorm to hit the area in 14 years is fanning flames and smoke that have killed at least two people while incinerating homes and sending thousands seeking safety. Dangerous gusts are expected to persist for at least another two days, pushing flames through high-priced neighborhoods and hindering firefighters as the blazes burn out of control. The largest fire—known as the Palisades Fire—roared across 5,000 acres just west of Santa Monica Wednesday, destroying 1,000 structures. 'It is plausible that the Palisades fire in particular will become the costliest fire on record, period—not just in California, but in general,' said Daniel Swain, a University of California Los Angeles climatologist. Swain said thousands of structures were likely to burn, including 'some of the most expensive homes and buildings in the world.'
Those wildfires terrorizing Los Angeles have been like something out of a movie, Mark Gongloff writes in Bloomberg Opinion: vast, fast-moving, unpredictable and merciless. Their scope and nature have surprised even fire-jaded California, and are evidence of the consequences that can be expected as the planet continues to heat up. Consequences for which traditional risk-management tools—like, say, home insurance— are increasingly obsolete.
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San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
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