Southern California is swept by new powerful winds on Monday, creating “critical” weather conditions around Los Angeles, still plagued by destructive fires that have killed at least 27 people.
Firefighters continue to make progress against the flames, which have destroyed nearly 16,000 hectares since January 7, and devastated certain neighborhoods and suburbs of the American megalopolis.
But the danger of a recovery is still not over, due to the return of violent winds.
Some gusts exceeded 140 km/h on Monday, a power comparable to that of a hurricane. Combined with the lack of rain which has dried out the region for eight months, this creates conditions conducive to the spread of the fire.
“We expect this to continue to create extremely critical weather conditions for fires throughout the region,” Ariel Cohen of the US Weather Service told AFP.
“All fires that form can grow explosively. This is therefore a particularly dangerous situation,” he added.
Criticized for their management of the disaster, the authorities pre-deployed firefighters and trucks in risk areas.
“I think we will be very, very well prepared for the worst possible scenario over the next two days, and I hope we don’t get to that,” assured Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
The largest fire, the Palisades Fire, was 59% contained Monday, and officials reduced the extent of affected areas with an evacuation order.
The Eaton fire, which notably ravaged the town of Altadena, north of Los Angeles, was 87% contained.
Trump expected on site
Los Angeles is still assessing the extent of the damage, which will disrupt the lives of thousands of people, well beyond just the victims of the fires.
-Grieving, the city is also asking a lot of questions about its reconstruction and is seeing political disputes around fire management worsen.
Donald Trump, inaugurated Monday as the new president of the United States, is expected in California at the end of the week. A visit that will be closely scrutinized by residents, because the Republican billionaire has in the past threatened to cut federal aid helping California fight fires.
His trip could lead him to meet California Governor Gavin Newsom. A Democrat of whom Mr. Trump has made his pet peeve, and to whom the press attributes presidential ambitions.
The real estate mogul criticized Mr. Newsom, with a lot of misinformation, accusing him of blocking “excess rain and sleet from northern” California.
In reality, Los Angeles draws most of its water via aqueducts and canals from entirely separate river basins further east. The city depends in particular on the health of the Colorado River.
Mr. Newsom counterattacked this weekend, denouncing misinformation on this subject. The Democrat believes that it is detrimental to the city’s recovery.
“That which is neither useful nor beneficial […]it’s this delusional fantasy […] that there is a magic faucet in northern California that you just have to turn on and suddenly it rains or water flows everywhere,” he insisted on Sunday.
The governor notably blamed Elon Musk, the owner of the social network
Southern California hasn’t seen significant precipitation in about eight months. If the rain returns, authorities now fear it could cause mudslides, landslides and flash floods on soils weakened by recent fires.
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