AccuWeather estimates more than $250 billion in damage from California wildfires

AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Southern California on Jan. 13, showcasing the catastrophic and heartbreaking situation.

Transcript

00:00Accuweather's Bill Waddell is alive in Pacific Palisades right now. Bill, the numbers keep

00:06climbing, unfortunately. Can you just describe what is happening where you are?

00:13Yeah, Bree and Jeff, the damage that surrounds us is just catastrophic and heartbreaking for so

00:18many of the families here in Southern California that have been impacted by these wildfires. It's

00:23calm right now where we are in Pacific Palisades up in the hills, not seeing much wind at all,

00:28but just within the past hour we've started hearing the noises return of the helicopters

00:32up above with water drops and we expect to hear more of that, more firefighting efforts as these

00:38winds start to pick up later today, especially tomorrow. This is why this neighborhood looks

00:43like a ghost town. A few people were back here trying to collect belongings. Many of them have

00:47just evacuated once again within the last hour. Now, Accuweather's preliminary estimate for the

00:53total damage and economic loss from these fast-moving, wind-driven infernos has climbed

00:59to an estimated $250 billion to $275 billion. This is a staggering figure, and Accuweather

01:08experts, they not only include insured and uninsured losses, but they consider many other

01:13factors, all of the financial impacts that go into a disaster like this. We're talking about

01:18the long-term medical and healthcare costs, damage to infrastructure, the business disruptions,

01:24the hundreds of thousands of customers who have lost power through those public safety power

01:29shutoffs, and all of the other financial impacts from a fire like this. And as you can see with

01:34the next graphic, Accuweather experts say this is unfortunately the latest in a series of major

01:39extreme weather disasters that have been happening in recent months and recent years here in the

01:44United States. It's having a bigger toll on families and businesses and on the insurance

01:48industry as well. Now, these fast-moving, wind-driven infernos, they sent embers blowing right into

01:54these neighborhoods last week. Some people are concerned that scenario could happen once again

01:58when these Santa Ana winds pick up. Some homes burned to the ground, but others right next door

02:03made it through the fire somehow. Kendrick Royer says this is a wonderful neighborhood, but he's

02:08not sure how many of his neighbors who lost their homes can afford to ever come back.

02:13People have always been phenomenal to one another, very, very close and helpful. Many of them are

02:20older, and we don't know what they're going to want to do, if they're going to want to rebuild,

02:23or if that's possible for them. Everybody has to re-evaluate them. I know everybody's

02:29got a different situation, and some couldn't get it, and so I really feel badly for them.

02:35Kendrick's home survived the flames last week, but you could see his neighbors directly across

02:38the street lost everything. Now, the fire crews that are here right now, just a few moments ago,

02:44they were dousing these homes that are still standing in the vegetation. They're trying to

02:48prevent any flying embers or ash that may return to this neighborhood from sparking any more fires.

02:54All right, Bill. Well, thank you so much for your update there and for continued updates on the Los

02:58Angeles wildfires. You can always go around the clock, and we'll see you next time.

03:05You can follow us on social media, all of our social media platforms, and again, some of these

03:10people who Bill spoke with, that man came back temporarily to his house to seal up the vents

03:15and re-evacuate once again. We'll be right back here on the AccuWeather Network.