LA wildfires: stronger winds threaten further destruction, officials warn
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Three fires still burning as at least 16 people killed and more than 150,000 people remain under evacuation warning. With the two biggest wildfires in Los Angeles still less than 20% contained, officials in California warned on Sunday that strengthening winds in the coming days threatened to expand the swath of destruction through the city that has already seen at least 16 people killed and many neighborhoods erased.
Three wildfires were still burning Sunday morning in Los Angeles county, where more than 150,000 people remained under an evacuation warning. Firefighters said shifting Santa Ana winds could blow the Palisades fire, which has razed almost 24,000 acres, back on itself towards the coast.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, said on Sunday the fires would be the worst natural disaster in US history, “in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope”. Newsom told NBC’s Meet the Press he had signed an executive order that would speed up disaster relief for victims. More than 12,300 homes and businesses have been destroyed, and more than 200,000 people displaced.
Meanwhile president-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in eight days, continued to point fingers, taking to his Truth Social platform to level new criticism at Newsom and other California officials for alleged mismanagement before and during the outbreaks.
