The devastating California wildfires still burning two days later will have costly damages for the city, state and its residents.
One preliminary estimate from AccuWeather, a weather forecasting site, calculated that the total damage and economic loss from the fires across L.A. County could cost between $135 billion and $150 billion.
“These fast-moving, wind-driven infernos have created one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern U.S. history,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “Hurricane-force winds sent flames ripping through neighborhoods filled with multi-million-dollar homes. The devastation left behind is heartbreaking and the economic toll is staggering. To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 percent of the annual GDP of the state of California.”