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AccuWeather estimates more than $250 billion in damage from California wildfires
AccuWeather
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1/14/2025
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Southern California on Jan. 13, showcasing the catastrophic and heartbreaking situation.
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00:00
Accuweather's Bill Waddell is alive in Pacific Palisades right now. Bill, the numbers keep
00:06
climbing, unfortunately. Can you just describe what is happening where you are?
00:13
Yeah, Bree and Jeff, the damage that surrounds us is just catastrophic and heartbreaking for so
00:18
many of the families here in Southern California that have been impacted by these wildfires. It's
00:23
calm right now where we are in Pacific Palisades up in the hills, not seeing much wind at all,
00:28
but just within the past hour we've started hearing the noises return of the helicopters
00:32
up above with water drops and we expect to hear more of that, more firefighting efforts as these
00:38
winds start to pick up later today, especially tomorrow. This is why this neighborhood looks
00:43
like a ghost town. A few people were back here trying to collect belongings. Many of them have
00:47
just evacuated once again within the last hour. Now, Accuweather's preliminary estimate for the
00:53
total damage and economic loss from these fast-moving, wind-driven infernos has climbed
00:59
to an estimated $250 billion to $275 billion. This is a staggering figure, and Accuweather
01:08
experts, they not only include insured and uninsured losses, but they consider many other
01:13
factors, all of the financial impacts that go into a disaster like this. We're talking about
01:18
the long-term medical and healthcare costs, damage to infrastructure, the business disruptions,
01:24
the hundreds of thousands of customers who have lost power through those public safety power
01:29
shutoffs, and all of the other financial impacts from a fire like this. And as you can see with
01:34
the next graphic, Accuweather experts say this is unfortunately the latest in a series of major
01:39
extreme weather disasters that have been happening in recent months and recent years here in the
01:44
United States. It's having a bigger toll on families and businesses and on the insurance
01:48
industry as well. Now, these fast-moving, wind-driven infernos, they sent embers blowing right into
01:54
these neighborhoods last week. Some people are concerned that scenario could happen once again
01:58
when these Santa Ana winds pick up. Some homes burned to the ground, but others right next door
02:03
made it through the fire somehow. Kendrick Royer says this is a wonderful neighborhood, but he's
02:08
not sure how many of his neighbors who lost their homes can afford to ever come back.
02:13
People have always been phenomenal to one another, very, very close and helpful. Many of them are
02:20
older, and we don't know what they're going to want to do, if they're going to want to rebuild,
02:23
or if that's possible for them. Everybody has to re-evaluate them. I know everybody's
02:29
got a different situation, and some couldn't get it, and so I really feel badly for them.
02:35
Kendrick's home survived the flames last week, but you could see his neighbors directly across
02:38
the street lost everything. Now, the fire crews that are here right now, just a few moments ago,
02:44
they were dousing these homes that are still standing in the vegetation. They're trying to
02:48
prevent any flying embers or ash that may return to this neighborhood from sparking any more fires.
02:54
All right, Bill. Well, thank you so much for your update there and for continued updates on the Los
02:58
Angeles wildfires. You can always go around the clock, and we'll see you next time.
03:05
You can follow us on social media, all of our social media platforms, and again, some of these
03:10
people who Bill spoke with, that man came back temporarily to his house to seal up the vents
03:15
and re-evacuate once again. We'll be right back here on the AccuWeather Network.
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