[Cet article et cette carte ont été publiés le jeudi 9 janvier et mis à jour le lundi 13 janvier]
The National Weather Service (NWS) is forecasting new wind gusts of between 80 and 112 km/h at the start of the week in the Los Angeles area.
Although these winds are not as powerful as those that fueled last week’s fires, the situation will remain “extremely dangerous” in the Californian megalopolis, observes meteorologist Ariel Cohen, quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
On the evening of Sunday, January 12, Los Angeles and Ventura counties were again placed on red alert, until Wednesday, January 15. Authorities have warned that anyone residing in Los Angeles County, nearly 10 million people, could be ordered to evacuate.
“Very high” risk
“These winds, combined with low humidity, will keep the risk throughout Los Angeles County very high.”said the head of the local fire department, Anthony Marrone, during a press conference. Evacuated areas could remain closed until red alerts are lifted on Thursday, he added.
The death toll from ongoing fires in Los Angeles has risen to 24 deaths and could continue to rise as investigators survey the rubble.
Among the fires ravaging the county, the Palisades Fire was only 13% contained as of Sunday evening, the report said. Los Angeles Times in his live. It has already ravaged nearly 10,000 hectares (almost the size of Paris) in Pacific Palisades and along Pacific Coast Highway, towards Malibu. Many neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino are under evacuation orders. Northeast of Los Angeles, another fire remained very active, the Eaton fire, only 27% contained on Sunday.
For Crystal Kolden, from the University of California, interviewed by New Scientist, “the presence of significant quantities of dry vegetation, drought and strong, hot and dry winds, forms an explosive cocktail and ‘an incredibly dangerous fire’”.
Not to mention the role of climate change: “It will take time to understand it,” recognizes the scientific magazine, but “there are nevertheless factors which suggest that it aggravated these fires”.
