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.
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Modi diminishing BRICS+ presidency value to appease Trump, Netanyahu: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Monday lashed out at the government for not releasing a collective statement on the West Asia conflict as the BRICS+ chair, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "diminishing" the standing of the grouping's presidency in his desire to "appease" US President Donald Trump and maintain his "cozy relationship" with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh recalled that Brazil was the President of BRICS+ in 2025 and it got the 11 member countries to issue a joint statement in June 2025 on the US and Israel air assaults on Iran.
"India is boasting of being the President of BRICS+ in 2026. But till now it has not summoned up the inclination or the courage to put out a collective statement on the US-Israel air offensives on and targeted assassinations in Iran, as well as on Iran's subsequent attacks on non-military targets in the GCC countries, and the shocking action of the US Navy in the Indian Ocean close to both Sri Lanka and India," Ramesh said on X.
"In his desire to appease President Trump and maintain his cozy relationship with Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Modi is diminishing the value and standing of the BRICS+ Presidency," the Congress leader said.
The Congress last week had attacked the Modi government for its "silence" on the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said "a compromised prime minister no doubt wants to avoid antagonising his American and Israeli friend".
Ramesh had said India has rightly condemned Iran's attacks on Gulf states but is "completely quiet" on the US-Israeli assault on Iran in the first place.
The Congress has said the Opposition is demanding a discussion in both Houses of Parliament on the situation in West Asia and its impact on India, but the Modi government is "adamantly refusing" to allow such a debate as it is "afraid".
The opposition party also claimed that the government's foreign policy "already stands brutally exposed".
The Congress had staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha and protested in the Lok Sabha on being dissatisfied with the statement of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in both Houses of Parliament last Monday.
The party termed as "vapid" Jaishankar's statement on the West Asia situation in Parliament and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy "(mis)adventurism", coupled with the government's "undermining" of the Indian Foreign Service, is pushing India into "vassalage".
The US and Israel launched a major military attack on Iran on February 28, killing Khamenei.
Making a suo-motu statement in Parliament, Jaishankar had said New Delhi stood for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states in the region. He defended allowing the Iranian ship to dock at an Indian port as the right decision taken on humanitarian grounds.
He said the Indian government had been constantly monitoring the evolving situation in the region at the highest level and had already brought back 67,000 stranded Indians from the conflict zone.
Jaishankar said the safety of Indian nationals and national interests, such as energy security and trade, remain the topmost priority for the government.
