Posted on 01/09/2025 11:19:24 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
WASHINGTON — The destruction caused by the Los Angeles-area wildfires, possibly the worst ever in California, is almost certain to rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history, with the total economic toll well into the tens of billions of dollars.
One preliminary estimate calculated by AccuWeather, the weather forecasting service, put the damage and total economic loss at $52 billion to $57 billion — a sum that could rise if the fires continue to spread.
J.P. Morgan on Thursday doubled its expectations of economic losses from a day earlier, saying they would be closer to $50 billion.
Five fires have already scorched thousands of acres in and around Los Angeles, forcing at least 130,000 people to be evacuated and damaging or destroying about 2,000 buildings. Five people have died.
While it may be days before the full extent of the cost is known, the sheer number of expensive homes and businesses affected suggests that the overall economic damage will likely be greater than the $30-billion loss caused by the Camp fire across California in 2018, considered the state’s most expensive wildfire to date.
The Maui wildfires in 2023, by comparison, caused $5.6 billion in damages, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
By the NOAA estimates, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is the most expensive U.S. natural disaster, costing an estimated $200 billion.
On Thursday, experts at Moody’s said that they expected the insured losses stemming from the L.A. County fires to run in the billions of dollars given the high value of properties in coastal Pacific Palisades, where the first blazes broke out on Tuesday.
Fires burning around Santa Monica and Malibu have torched homes that are among the most expensive in the country, with a median value of over $2 million, said AccuWeather.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Nothing ‘natural’ about this disaster. Completely man-made. :(
Of course, all the countries we give aid to are lining up with offers of assistance.
Here’s the list...........
I was noticing on X how people were asking others to donate. I can’t seem to remember too many Hollywood types donating much of anything to the people in North Carolina. I may be wrong about that. But most of these people all have plenty of money and other houses to go to.
I think Dolly Parton did, but didn’t hear much about others.
I don’t think it’s ‘natural’...................
It's natural in the same sense that two men can have a baby.
“Completely man-made.”
I’m not hearing much discussion of ignition sources.
All due to pre-fire real estate estimates which includes some of the priciest homes in Southern California. A larger fire covering a bigger area including mostly very middle class homes would not a total estimated damage as high.
sounds like a low figure
From further down in the article:
J.P. Morgan on Thursday raised its earlier estimate of insured losses to $20 billion.
I wonder what will happen downstream of the insurance industry if the losses continue into the hundreds of billions. Will we need another TARP to bail out the insurance companies?
For which the Los Angeles Times should take at least some credit.
Credit is due.
As best I can tell the cost will be broken into three separate pieces:
—Self insured—these will be wealthy folks or those with no mortgage that requires insurance. They are on their own.
—CA insurance program—the state is going to take a big hit here—but have no clue what the numbers look like
—Private insurers.
It will be interesting to what that split looks like.
That’s a long list!
As if ignition was "the cause" of the fire.
We put gasoline tanks underground for a reason.
The reason is that it takes only three things to make a fire: air, ignition, and fuel. The only one of those three fully under human control is fuel. Lightning strikes happen eventually.
They are struggling to gain traction with selling the narrative that the "climate" is the sole cause.
The ‘cause’ is fifty years of liberal mismanagement.
50B is the low figure... fires not over yet.
JPM and others will need to raise their estimates after the smoke clears.
Is anyone else noticing???:
Looking at video and photos of the Los Angeles fires: Even some of the brick and concrete buildings look like they were bombed or smashed down with a wrecking ball... yet the trees and even brush standing right next to the buildings are mostly unscathed.
Now, as an old Forest Service Helitac Firefighter in my youth, I know that forest fires can do some weird stuff, but this seems kind of strange to me.
No worries! FEMA will be along with their $700 checks. That’ll fix everything.
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