Recovery

Experts say the incineration of Paradise, a sleepy town of 27,000 nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, is a case study in what can go wrong when a landscape that’s prone to wildfire is disproportionately populated by those who are least likely to escape.

After FEMA announced last month that $1.7 billion in federal aid was in jeopardy if the city and county continued to allow residents to live on blackened and toxic land, officials passed an ordinance that reversed their initial decision to allow people to move back to burn areas.

Asked Wednesday if he still thinks the federal government shouldn’t give California any more money until the state changes its forest management practices, Trump refrained from directly repeating the threat, but said something has to be done to keep California from burning year after year.

'These families still carry on, they still have to manage through life, and property tax relief is one form of comfort that the government can provide.'

The Aug. 20 storm delivered more than 11 inches of rain in parts of Madison. The event caused significant flooding in some areas. In the following weeks, more rain fell reaching historic levels in excess of a 100-year flood elevation.

In Winston-Salem, people who were unable to climb stairs were marooned on the first floor of the Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, separated by steep stairs from the only bathrooms open to evacuees.

At an emotional meeting Monday morning, Paradise town officials rescinded a December urgency ordinance that had allowed property owners to live temporarily in trailers or RVs on their burned properties.

The federal disaster designation from FEMA will allow city and county governments, state agencies, some non-profits and religious institutions to be paid back for money used to repair buildings and infrastructure.

'The vision of Community Organizations Active in Disaster is to efficiently centralize and streamline information to local volunteers, churches and organizations who want to help disaster response.'

Uprooted trees, broken furniture, sodden carpets, soggy sheet rock, smashed fencing, crushed carports and moldy clothing make up the mix of items destroyed by the September storm and subsequent flooding.

Law enforcement officers bristled at some of the preliminary findings that put blame on them instead of the county’s antiquated public safety radio system, with many shaking their heads as consultants walked the task force through their review to date.

The federal aid complements state disaster relief programs, which offer up to about $18,000 in grant money as well as housing assistance. Nearly 13,000 Alaskans had submitted applications for aid as of Thursday.

More than 50,000 people were evacuated by the Camp Fire, Butte County officials previously estimated, with thousands forced into various Red Cross shelters throughout the county.

According to the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, temperatures are expected to drop to 35 below in the area tonight, and that's not even the wind chill.

A potential problem has emerged: Nearly half of the property owners in the hill country around Paradise have not given the government permission to enter their properties to do the work.