In California, the housing crisis began due to devastating fires

The author of the column Observer talked about what is happening in the Bay Area and why the housing crisis will be exacerbated.

On Friday, San Francisco and most of the bay was still covered with smog from Camp Fire, the worst forest fire in California history. Air quality has become the worst in the world.

As a result of a forest fire, 76 people died, 1200 went missing. The fire destroyed the 13 000 buildings, causing an acute public health crisis.

Schools and parks are closed. The Alcatraz stop and the San Francisco cable cars are closed. For those who do not have the money to go somewhere for the weekend, the libraries remained open until 21: 00, so about 7500 homeless people in the city found a place to “take a breath”.

Masks have become mandatory for wearing in the season of wildfires in California.

Friday came President Trump. He, along with California Governor Jerry Brown, walked past the smoldering houses in the city of Paradise, where 27 had previously lived 000 people. Paradise is located in Butte County, where 21% of residents live below the poverty line, and incomes are below the national average. All this affects the housing crisis, because with such incomes it is not so easy to rent housing or take a mortgage. In addition, about a quarter of city residents were older than 65 years.

The main task of the state government at the moment - to decide what to do with the thousands of residents who fled from the fire and whose house burned down. They were temporarily stationed at the Walmart parking lots, sleeping in their cars or tents, which they managed to smash earlier.

They are not the first to lose their homes because of climate change in America (for example, 98% of a city in Louisiana flooded after rising sea levels), but they are the brightest and most undeniable sign that sudden human migrations due to climate change in our time is a fact of life on earth.

Another fact is that we handle such crises very poorly. Americans displaced by wildfires—mostly already elderly or poor or with underlying health conditions—need help they are not getting now. Only many years later will they be able to get it, and even then it’s not a fact.

Observ

According to a Santa Rosa representative, a year after Tubbs Fire destroyed 5300 homes in Santa Rosa, less than 50 was rebuilt. An early study found that slightly less than half of the houses were rebuilt within six years after their destruction.

If this happens in Paradise, it will be a California housing crisis, which, in turn, will lead to a crisis with the homeless and aggravated by global climate change.

Read also on ForumDaily:

'All That Remains Are Ashes': As Residents Of The Destroyed City Of Paradise Try To Start A New Life

What California fires look like from space

San Francisco is almost invisible due to the smoke from the fires in California. A PHOTO

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.