Bush Declares State of Disaster in OC

Fires that raged through the southland over the weekend are almost extinguished.

President Bush declared Orange County a disaster zone this afternoon. On Monday Governor Schwarzenegger and other California politicians wrote to the president requesting that he declare a state of emergency, which would provide California with funds to help control the fires and support the victims. The declaration of a major disaster zone guarantees that affected victims will be eligible for federal money that would come to them through FEMA. The money will go towards temporary housing, costs of rebuilding the hundreds of homes that have fallen to the flames, and low-cost loans to cover uninsured losses. Business owners are also eligible for other benefits

California has an $11.2 billion budget deficit so far, and the black hole on the books keeps getting bigger. The fires aren't helping, this year California has spent $305 million on emergency fire fighting. Orange County officials estimate that they have spent $10 million so far trying to combat the flames. California's insurance companies, including fallen AIG's insurance company, have sufficient funds to cover all claims, and long term data will be analyzed to determine whether rates in California are going to increase.

So far over 1000 homes have been destroyed and about 65 square miles of land razed by the flames, but by now the fires in Southern California are almost extinguished. Heavy winds that spread the fires uncontrollably over the weekend have died down, so until the next big forest fire, it's time to clean up and once again, thank our fire fighters.

Residents and business owners affected by the fires can now contact FEMA by registering online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA.

Are you satisfied with official's reaction to the sudden wildfires in the southland?
Yes, the response was timely and efficient
No, more should have been done

(View Results)

Create a MySpace Poll