Recovery

The ruling could affect PG&E’s potential responsibility to reimburse CalFire and FEMA for their costs in combating numerous Northern California wildfires that have been traced to the utility’s power lines.

The PG&E filing comes as the company tries to fend off a takeover attempt by a group of hedge funds that own billions in PG&E bonds, as well as efforts by two-dozen municipalities to convert PG&E to a customer-owned utility.

The senators said the funding is available on a cost-sharing basis; FEMA generally covers 75 percent of eligible costs for permanent and emergency work. Eighteen counties were battered by recent flooding across the state.

Officials revised infrastructure damage estimates for the 2019 flooding, saying they could now top $56 million for 51 projects. Flooding caused 100 landslides and slipouts and damaged more than 2,000 buildings and homes.

The Public Works and Police departments have been working nonstop to assist villagers. Assistance has come from federal, state and local levels, but a FEMA home-buyout program would be welcomed.

One year after the Camp Fire destroyed much of the town in California’s deadliest wildfire, Paradise is coming back to life. Eleven homes have been rebuilt, and the town has issued more than 300 permits to those who lost their homes and wouldn’t think of moving elsewhere.

More than 150 houses are known to have been impacted by floodwaters, and numbers are still rising. There currently isn't a dollar estimate on the damage, but so far, the mayor knows of 16 houses that are unsalvageable.

As public safety agencies work to contain and stop all of the fires that have struck California, various online and physical resources play a significant role in helping victims recover from and cope with their losses.

Many homeowners still forgo it, even in floodplains. Anyone with a loan on property in a high-risk area that is federally insured or regulated must buy flood insurance. But there’s no such requirement for others.

At one point, 57% of Marin County’s 280 cellphone tower sites were out of service Sonoma, Lake, Santa Cruz, Humboldt and Calaveras counties all encountered days in which more than 20% of cellphone towers were out.

FEMA and some states dispute the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff's premise that "all hazards planning" would be enough to address a nuclear accident. Planning experts recommend the planning zone remain in place.

The company's Disaster Mapping System uses satellite and drone images to help pinpoint buildings most impacted by a disaster such as a tornado or earthquake. The modeling is designed to help first responders.

A Port Arthur, Texas, City Councilwoman is one of the people whose request for reimbursement was declined by the Land Office because she didn’t raise her home, which is in the floodplain, while completing repairs.

Historically, officials say, it takes about a year to be reimbursed once a qualifying application for assistance is made. But this year, the process hasn't even started for many claims from last October.

Sonoma County residents were only two years removed from the devastating 2017 Tubbs Fire and had become organized since then. This helped firefighters get in to fight the Kincade Fire instead of getting people to safety.