Los Angeles: after a lull, return of violent winds

A lull in winds in Los Angeles at the end of the week brings some respite to firefighters battling blazes, but meteorologists expect the return of more powerful squalls starting Monday.

Winds are expected to strengthen from Monday to Wednesday, opening a new period of critical risk in terms of fires, meteorologist Daniel Swain warned Saturday, adding that it might not rain at all for the next six or seven days.

As thousands of firefighters continue to work day and night to control the devastating fires, President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he hopes to visit the scene after his inauguration on Monday. probably at the end of the week.

California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, invited the Republican, who has attacked him over his handling of the fires, to visit Los Angeles and see the damage.

Dozens of people are still missing and at least 27 have died from the fires in Altadena, north of Los Angeles, and in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood in the city’s west. The fires have destroyed more than 16,000 hectares – an area almost as large as the city of Washington – and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Mounted police and dog squads inspected the disaster areas on Friday looking for victims in charred buildings and even in some steep areas.

I hope they allow us to come home soonconfided a resident, Winston Ekpo, whose house survived the flames. This father has been living in a shelter with his wife and children for ten days.

Unprecedented intensity

Hundreds of trucks crisscross the roads of Altadena, Pacific Palisades and the Malibu coast to transport workers who have come to clear the roads, restore electricity and inspect water and gas leaks.

Federal authorities have launched an investigation to determine the causes of these fires, which are the subject of numerous theories. However, experts are already pointing out a few elements: two very rainy years gave rise to lush vegetation, which then dried out without precipitation for months, as well as violent winds which made the task of firefighters almost impossible.

The Santa Ana winds, which fanned the flames at breakneck speed, are a classic of Californian autumns and winters. However, they reached an intensity not seen since 2011, according to meteorologists, with gusts blowing up to 160 km/h.

Alex Tardy of the National Weather Service (NWS) explained that if we combine the latest episodes of Santa Ana winds with the upcoming one and the conditions on the ground, we have never seen such fire danger and such dry vegetation in modern records.

This does not necessarily mean that there will be more fires, he explains, but if they do break out, there will be potentially more explosive and rapid spread.