California Declares State of Emergency
California has declared a state of emergency, the Associated Press reports, as wildfires and hurricane force winds ravage areas of the state, leaving millions without power.
Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement Sunday in an attempt to reassure Californians — particularly those in the Bay Area and in Sonoma County where the fires threaten major agriculture and industry — that the state was deploying “every resource available” to battle the blazes.
The wildfires, blazing in Sonoma County and near San Francisco, and further south near Santa Clarita, had already driven more than 50,000 people from their homes by Saturday night when experts predicted a “catastrophic wind event” with hurricane-force gusts. By Sunday, 180,000 people had been told to flee to safer ground and winds up to 80 miles per hour blew across Napa Valley vineyards, causing the fires to take on an “erratic” burn pattern. . .
Before the winds arrived, the Kincade Fire, which began Wednesday night, was only 10% contained, and had already burned 47 square miles, destroying nearly 80 structures, according to the Associated Press. Nine people have been reported injured so far, victims of a tree that came crashing down on a farmer’s market near San Francisco, but the casualties are by no means fully counted. The last fire, that swept through largely the same area in 2017, killed 24 people. (Read more from “California Declares State of Emergency” HERE)
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