The mayor’s office issued her public schedule for Saturday, Jan. 4, shortly after midnight that day, saying that President Biden had asked her to help represent the United States at the Jan. 7 inauguration ceremonies in Ghana. Ms. Bass left later Saturday morning. Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the president of the Los Angeles City Council and a mayoral mentee, became acting mayor once she was gone.
The National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office began telegraphing increasingly dire messages about heavy winds on Sunday. A red flag warning about fire danger that was issued Sunday was upgraded Monday to a “particularly dangerous situation” warning, only the fifth time the agency had ever issued such a warning for Los Angeles.
“HEADS UP!!! A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm is expected,” the agency posted on X Monday, saying that winds could reach 100 m.p.h and would hit places that were not usually affected.
-On Tuesday and Wednesday, as fires raged, Mr. Harris-Dawson, the acting mayor, said he received minute-by-minute briefings from the heads of different agencies, including those overseeing law enforcement, fire, water and transportation. He addressed the public at news conferences as the city’s top elected official. He filled in for Ms. Bass at the city’s emergency operations center. He gave approval for the city to declare a state of emergency.
Mr. Harris-Dawson added that Ms. Bass was listening to the briefings, too, and participated in the decision-making, despite the eight-hour time difference between California and Ghana. She could make phone calls even while flying home because she was on a military plane, which was available to her because she was on a diplomatic mission, he said.
