'Opportunity to really learn from disaster and start rebuilding better into a more resilient future'

1 year ago

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00:00First, firefighters from Canada and from Mexico are being deployed to Los Angeles as the devastating

00:17California wildfires rage for a seventh day. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom,

00:24says this could be the worst natural disaster in American history. In all, 24 people are

00:30confirmed to have lost their lives and over 100,000 residents have been forced to evacuate.

00:37Many of those have lost their homes. Today, the largest fire in Palisades remains less

00:44than 15% contained, but some of the evacuees are nonetheless keen to return and see the

00:51destruction with their own eyes. Solange Mougin has this report.

00:59The fires may have come and gone, burning much of everything in their wake in this neighbourhood

01:04of the Pacific Palisades, but that doesn't mean the danger's passed. With the National

01:09Guard blocking roads and a curfew in place from sunrise to sunset, many residents have

01:14nonetheless lined up, trying to get back into their homes, either to quickly grab beloved

01:20items or more necessities, or to simply see with their own eyes where their homes once

01:25stood.

01:26To collect my dad's ashes, which we had to leave behind, as well as my grandma's ashes,

01:31which we also had to leave behind.

01:33It's gotten exponentially harder to get in, rightfully so, because of the looting. I did

01:38get in two days ago when the market burned down and I had to turn around because of the

01:42smoke and you couldn't get visibility and it's like you were in a ball of fire.

01:46Not only do blazes continue unchecked in the Los Angeles area, but there are also added

01:51risks of something firefighters call spotting, or new blazes caused by blowing embers. The

01:57Weather Service has issued several red flag warnings of strong winds, with the greatest

02:02risk coming on Tuesday. And then there are the dangers of broken gas lines, contaminated

02:07ash, as well as unstable structures. Finally, there's also the very real risk of looting.

02:13For residents, it is a long and difficult wait.

02:16I'd be frustrated, but the truth is, is that anybody who understands even the slightest

02:22bit about fires knows that all it needs is a good wind and things can turn bad quickly.

02:27So I know they're doing that for everyone's safety. It doesn't make us want our belongings

02:35out of there any less.

02:37With some 100,000 people still under evacuation orders, many residents are not only grieving

02:42their lost homes and communities, but they're also anxiously waiting it out, hoping for

02:47an end soon to the blazes.

02:50Well, as Californians reeling then from the fires, experts around the world are starting

02:56to ask how we can better prepare ourselves for more fires in the future as the climate

03:02emergency worsens. One of those experts is Alexander Held from the Resilience Program

03:09at the European Forest Institute. He joins us live on the program now. Thanks for making

03:14the time good to speak to you.

03:16My pleasure.

03:17Look, when we zoom out from those scenes in California, what lessons do you as an expert

03:25draw in terms of fire management?

03:29Well, with all the tragedy and catastrophe that we're observing, the fact is that a lot

03:37of experts from the fire community and from the fire science community have predicted

03:42some of those situations. And now we have the opportunity to really learn from the disaster

03:48and start rebuilding reconstruction better into a more resilient future. So let's use

03:54this disaster as good as we can.

03:56Indeed. And when it comes to thinking about climate change, of course, the top priority

04:01or one of the top priorities is mitigation, how we cut down on greenhouse gases, for example.

04:07But given that experts like yourself say that the planet may well pass that 1.5 degrees

04:15Celsius threshold in the coming years, the other question becomes then how it is that

04:20we humans adapt, how we build resilience within the cities we live in to prepare ourselves

04:27for more events like this in the future. Just tell us a bit about what steps practically

04:31you think should be taken.

04:33Well, the first prerequisite is, of course, as you mentioned, stopping the greenhouse

04:37emissions and then in preparing a resilient situation, a more resilient situation when

04:43it comes to wildfire and urban population. It's clear we have the ingredients for fires,

04:48topography, weather and fuel, and we can't influence topography and change the weather.

04:53So the only tool we have is addressing the conditions, the characteristics of the vegetation

04:59that is fuel for a fire. And that can be mitigated and modified to a situation where

05:06we will still have fires, but acceptable fires and manageable fires.

05:10Look, and when we talk about reconstruction in Los Angeles in particular, how do you think

05:18homes and communities there should be rebuilt now, keeping in mind that, of course, there

05:23could be more fires on this scale to come?

05:28Okay, there are a lot of programs out there and concepts in America and around the world,

05:32fire wise concepts, fire smart concepts, building construction guidelines, etc. In terms of

05:39how is your house prepared, how is your property prepared, how is your garden prepared, how

05:44are the roads, access for firefighters, exit for evacuations and all that. So this is a

05:50unique chance now of rebuilding into a better future. But one of the crucial points is that

05:56the society has to accept in the future, we have to manage our landscape and we have

06:03to live with fire and not like you tried in the past, living without fire and resulting

06:09in an overgrown landscape that then goes up in flames in these severe conditions. So this

06:14is the first step to take in terms of building awareness for the society that there is no

06:20future without fire. You decide what fire and how do you like your smoke.

06:26Look, and that is a stark image that you paint for us that these fires are going to happen

06:31sort of come what may. And that makes me think about somewhere like California, that is one

06:36of the wealthiest states in the United States, which is one of the wealthiest countries in

06:41the world. Sort of what does that tell us when we zoom out even more about what needs

06:48to be done now to support those developing countries that clearly don't have the resources

06:53of somewhere like California, but could well face devastating fires linked to climate change

06:59in the future?

07:00Well, we see in California, as in other places that are highly developed, that in situations

07:06like this, the best fire service in the world cannot do much. So the lesson to draw from

07:12countries that are in a developing stage, or like where I'm in Germany, in a state where

07:17fires are becoming more frequent, is that we start from the start engaging in an interdisciplinary

07:23approach to managing fires, not only firefighting, not only suppression, but accepting that fire

07:29will play a role in the future. It will be there if you like it or not. And if you accept

07:34this, then you need foresters, urban planners, special planning, tourism, environment, education,

07:40all on one table to develop objectives for the future that everybody can subscribe to.

07:47But the prerequisite is accept that there will be fire and there will be smoke. And

07:52we have to find a way that we can live with that in these conditions. And it is possible.

07:57And look, just a final question for you then, is it possible in the future that areas like

08:03Pacific Palisades that have been so devastated now, could be simply uninhabitable as a result

08:10of fire risk?

08:12I think we as a human race are very adaptable. And we have examples from other hot and dry

08:18places in the world where if you manage sustainably and resilient, then you can live in these

08:24conditions and there's no reason to give up. It should rather encourage us to really mitigate

08:32climate change and provide for a living environment where we can live in balance with our environment.

08:39Alexander Hell talking to us there from the Resilience Programme at the European Forests

08:43Institute. Thanks very much indeed.

08:46Thank you very much.

08:47Well, for those who are directly caught up in the fires in Los Angeles, there are more

08:53immediate questions to answer now. Among them, will my insurance cover the rebuilding of

08:59my home? Delano D'Souza has this report.

09:04In this Los Angeles neighbourhood ravaged by wildfires, a resident returns to inspect

09:09the damage. Jesus Hernandez finds his home has been completely destroyed.

09:14Again, you would be met with the living room, which is literally right here in this area.

09:20As Jesus inspects what little remains, worry starts to mount.

09:27Hopefully the insurance can pay for most of it. If not, then we're going to have to

09:35stay with friends or someone.

09:37Many residents in Southern California remain anxious as insurance companies have suspended

09:42or limited their coverage in the past two years. In the affluent neighbourhood of Pacific

09:47Palisades, thousands of contracts have been cancelled. This couple struggled but eventually

09:53found an insurance policy days before last week's fire broke out.

09:57I wonder how many other people weren't able to get that policy at the 11th hour because

10:00you worked very hard to get it.

10:02Between recurring wildfires, flooding and the risk of an earthquake, California remains

10:07costly for insurance firms eager to leave the state.

10:11Authorities have now forbidden companies from cancelling policies for the next year.

10:16So right now, my immediate goal is to make sure that we get the claims paid, the claims

10:21paid as quick as possible and that we get people on the road to recovery as quickly as

10:26we can.

10:27While experts estimate the damage and economic loss could cost between $135 billion to $150

10:34billion, insurance companies could wind up paying nearly $20 billion.

10:42Well, let's look a little now at the political fallout from the wildfires in California.

10:47Our foreign editor, Ketavan Ghorjasthani, with me now.

10:50And look, Ketavan, Donald Trump will be taking office a week today and the incoming

10:56president is already pointing fingers, isn't he?

10:59Absolutely. In the past few days, he's been attacking the Democratic leadership of the

11:04state of California, especially the governor, Gavin Newsom, who's been a longtime foe of

11:10the elected president.

11:12And mostly it has been about mismanagement of water resources.

11:18Trump accusing Gavin Newsom of being incompetent, but also more specifically, for

11:25example, not signing a water restoration declaration.

11:29This has been looked into by U.S.

11:32reporters and apparently there is no such document that Gavin Newsom could not have

11:37signed. What Donald Trump seems to be referring to is a sort of spat that he had with

11:42Gavin Newsom back in 2020, so during his first term at a time when there were wildfires

11:49in California and Donald Trump had sought to divert some water from the northern part

11:56of California through a presidential memorandum to bring it down to some of the

12:01farmlands further south, something that Gavin Newsom could not block as a governor,

12:07but opposed publicly, saying that it was bad environmentally, especially for some

12:13species that were close to extinction.

12:16It was in the end the California attorney general that blocked that move by Donald

12:21Trump. But even if that is true, that this water was not brought from the north to the

12:27south, experts say that it would have had little bearing on what is happening right now

12:31in California, that this is not about a lack of water because they point to the

12:37reservoirs in and around Los Angeles as saying that they're all pretty much at normal

12:43average levels for this time of the year, except one, which is a reservoir in the

12:49area of the Pacific Palisades that has been hit hard.

12:53This one was closed down for maintenance and that is why it was empty.

12:58So nothing about managing the water there.

13:02The only thing that Gavin Newsom agrees with Donald Trump on is this question about

13:08why some fire hydrants were empty and were dry.

13:12And for that, he has launched an investigation.

13:15They're looking into that.

13:16Another person that's been attacked by Donald Trump also is the mayor of Los Angeles,

13:21Karen Bass. She's been attacked for supposedly cutting the funding to the fire

13:28department of the city of Los Angeles by about 17 million dollars.

13:33That is a little bit misleading because, yes, that budget has been cut.

13:38But the city council also, parallel to this, added 53 million in pay raises, added 58

13:46million in new kits for the firefighters.

13:49So in the end, technically, the budget grew by 7 percent, not reduced.

13:55And a lot of experts also say that there's not really been an impact on the fire

14:00department's ability to fight the fire.

14:02It's just simply that the fire was too big.

14:05Look, and the fires are still raging, Ketavan, but there are already conversations now

14:10turning to recovery and reconstruction.

14:12And on that as well, the political blame game from Donald Trump is turning towards the

14:18White House. Yes, the FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, already saying

14:24that they've had about 24,000 people applying for federal assistance.

14:31And Donald Trump coming out recently saying that Joe Biden had left, quote, no money in

14:38FEMA. Now, it is true that the FEMA funding or that that fund has been depleted over the

14:45past year because of the multiplication of natural disasters.

14:50But Joe Biden signed a bill back in December to replenish that fund, putting in 29

14:58billion dollars into that fund.

15:00So the current balance of FEMA is actually 27 billion dollars.

15:05Now, you might say this is likely not going to be enough in order to cover all the

15:10disaster recovery that will come from these wildfires, but also possible other natural

15:16disasters coming up.

15:17But it is not no money.

15:20But this blame game about FEMA and the role of FEMA has been something that Donald Trump

15:25has used. We saw it back in the fall during Hurricane Helene, where he accused

15:30Joe Biden of using the FEMA funds to help illegal immigrants instead of helping those

15:36harder hit areas.

15:38This is something that has also been debunked.

15:41But Donald Trump has made FEMA a target.

15:45We've seen that in the past.

15:47The question now is what he's going to do when he gets into office.

15:50He has said that broadly he wants to cut the budget of federal agencies.

15:55He hasn't spoken specifically about FEMA.

15:58But given that FEMA has been a target over and over again, there is some worry among

16:03people who work in and with FEMA that that could be one of those areas where he would

16:09cut a budget. And when you see what is happening right now in California and what we've

16:13seen in the past few months in the United States from wildfires to hurricanes, FEMA is

16:19an essential organization in the United States when it comes to that disaster recovery.

16:24Ketavan Ghorjasdhani, for the moment, thanks very much.

16:27Indeed.

'Opportunity to really learn from disaster and start rebuilding better into a more resilient future'

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