The Los Angeles wildfire is one of the most expensive natural disasters faced by the United States, as per reports from Bloomberg referring to a preliminary financial assessment.
The wildfire, which is engulfing some of the nation’s wealthiest localities around Santa Monica and Malibu, is impacting regions with a median home value over $2 million, as per the reports of AccuWeather Inc. The damage and economic losses are projected between $52 billion and $57 billion.
Pressed by hurricane-force winds, the infernos may widen deeper into these well-off neighbourhoods, damaging even more homes.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the most expensive natural disaster in US chronicle, with an assessed cost of $200 billion, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And wildfires in California in 2018, including the Camp Fire, caused loss around $30 billion.
Other than property damages and loss of life, the Los Angeles wildfires are possible to have chronic health effects due to the toxic smoke and could significantly damage the area’s tourism industry.
Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather’s chief meteorologist, said,This is already one of the worst wildfires in California history.”
He further added, Should a large number of additional buildings burn in the coming days, it may become the worst wildfire in modern California history based on the number of structures burnt and economic loss.”
At least five people died and more than 1,000 complexes were damaged as wildfires stormed in the Los Angeles region, officials said.
Many of the fierce wildfires began Tuesday and were amplified by powerful Santa Ana winds, which stormed to more than 70 mph (112 kph) in some areas. The winds continued on Wednesday and for a while made it too dangerous for aircraft to attack the fires from the sky, further restraining their efforts. Aerial firefighting resumed on Wednesday
