Here is what the news just presented:
Fires currently burning: 18
Acres burned: around 420,000 total (or about 650 square miles/1050 sq kilometers)
Lost: about 1250 homes and business so far
Evacuated: Over 500,000 in San Diego alone, and estimated at about 880,000 overall.
Monetary amount: Estimating over $1 billion dollars in damages in just San Diego alone. Last estimate I heard was around $500 million elsewhere.
Deaths: 5
Injuries: 30-50 (getting really crappy estimates)
Let's not forget what happened during the big fires from 2003 (I believe) when people didn't raise their insurance limits so when they filed a claim to rebuild their house they didn't have enough money.
ReplyDeleteYet another drain on the consumer, although if you had negative equity already it probably doesn't really matter.
Several national broadcasts included interviews with victims whose homes are gone--and the repeated comment was, "I don't know what I have to do now."
ReplyDeleteOne man talked about calling the utility companies to give them a non-service date: who would think of that?
And rebuilding is not just the structure, but it's the thousands of dollars worth of the little items that families use daily, and it's the cost of replacing the landscaping, which many people don't include in their loss.
You may (and I repeat "may") be able to rebuild the house, but it'll just be a shell, and estimates are that it costs almost as much to furnish a home as it does to build, so who's going to pay that bill?
The fire is just the most obvious start to the tragedy these families will have to live with for years to come.
I can't even imagine. All of sudden, in one fell swoop your whole life turned upside down. What a shame. :-(
ReplyDeletePersonal items like clothing and shoes, couches and tables can be replaced. It's terrible, of course, but I would hate to lose the photos and souveniers of trips and good times. Those are the things that are truly priceless.
I can't put a dollar amount on the seashell I got from a trip to Alma with Anthony, or a charged stone from a friend who said it just made her think of me.