PM Modi's road-show begins in Bengaluru amid fanfare
Bengaluru (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his 26 km roadshow in the city on Saturday morning, campaigning for the BJP, ahead of May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka.
The roadshow from Someshwar Bhavan RBI Ground in Bengaluru South to Malleshwaram's Sankey Tank is expected to be covered in about three-and-half hours, according to party sources.
Modi's roadshow today will be passing through parts of south and central Bengaluru, touching about a dozen Assembly segments, they said.
The PM was accompanied by Bengaluru South MP, Tejasvi Surya and Bengaluru Central MP, P C Mohan.
Massive arrangements have been made along the stretch, like erecting barricades, to ensure that the roadshow goes on smoothly, as tens of thousands of people are expected to gather along the roadside, official sources said.
The entire distance is decked up with saffron hues as BJP flags were seen on either side of the road, and thousands of party workers and supporters too wearing saffron shawls and caps.
Cultural teams are also stationed along the stretch where Modi will take part in the road show in a specially designed vehicle.
The much shorter roadshow, about 10 km between Kempegowda statue at Thippasandra to Trinity circle, will be held on Sunday.
Keeping National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in mind, the BJP on Friday modified Modi's two-day roadshow in Bengaluru, by scheduling the extensive event today and shorter one on May 7.
The roadshow, earlier scheduled to be held for eight hours on Saturday alone, was split into two parts on Saturday and Sunday to avoid inconvenience to the public.
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
