Outgoing US President Joe Biden said on Monday that "tens of billions of dollars" will be needed to rebuild Los Angeles after the extensive destruction caused by the fires that have swept through the suburbs of the second largest urban center in the US in the last week.
“It will cost tens of billions of dollars to restore Los Angeles to the state it was in” before the fires hit, Mr. Biden warned, as the California metropolis prepares for the predicted new increase in winds — which threaten to re-spread the flames that have left at least 24 dead, according to the latest official tally.
Nearly a week after the hills around it caught fire, Los Angeles lives in fear that winds will fan and spread the flames, and that new outbreaks will occur.
Conditions in the Los Angeles area are "extremely favorable" for fires and gusty winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour are already blowing there in places that will continue until at least Wednesday, American meteorologists have warned.
The hot and dry winds are expected to have a force comparable to "that of a hurricane," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
In suburbs swept by flames, rescue teams with the support of specially trained dogs continue to search the rubble for bodies.
The efforts of thousands of firefighters, including those sent by neighboring Mexico, have, however, returned to partially contain the two largest fires in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom accused Elon Musk of spreading "lies" about the authorities' response to the fires, further intensifying the backlash between them over misinformation.
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his ally and owner of companies such as Tesla, SpaceX and X, have multiplied their criticism in recent days regarding the management of the devastating fires, which have claimed the lives of at least 24 people, by authorities in California.
Elon Musk thus claimed a few days ago in a post on his platform, X, that the destruction of thousands of homes due to fires is due to "mismanagement at the state and local level that caused water shortages."
"(Elon Musk's) lies are being exposed by firefighters," Gavin Newsom responded on Sunday evening, also via X, accompanying the comment with a video in which the tycoon asked a firefighter why there was a problem with the water supply.
The latter replied that nothing of the sort was happening, that there was water in "many reservoirs."
Gavin Newsom even accused the richest man in the world of “encouraging looting with lies” after Mr. Musk reported via X that the California governor and Democrats had “decriminalized” looting.
After the former Twitter — renamed X — was acquired in 2022 by Elon Musk, whose personal account is "followed" by 212 million people, the platform has been accused by media outlets, its users, and others of allowing itself to be used to spread false news and information and not dedicating sufficient resources to checking the accuracy of posts or discussions.
Although drought and strong winds have created conditions conducive to the outbreak and spread of wildfires in Los Angeles, there has been a proliferation of X-linked messages blaming California's "progressive" policies, particularly programs intended to increase diversity in the ranks of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
False information about the fires is also circulating on other social networking sites, such as Facebook.
Authorities have warned against a message posted on Facebook urging people to go to California and join groups that will clean up areas affected by the fires.
"We would like to clarify that there is no such possibility," the California Department of Fire Protection said on its website.
Source: KYPE
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