United States President Joe Biden has announced a $770 one-time payment to California wildfire victims as Los Angeles County battles one of the worst fires in state history.
Biden, whose term in the White House is coming to an end, made the news on Monday.
According to Hollywoodunlocked, the wildfire, which has taken 29 lives, is a growing concern among Americans.
However, Biden, in a meeting, offered to make a one-time payment of $770 to the victims of the devastating Los Angeles County fires and that the government would be covering 100% of the disaster response expenditures for the next six months.
He said, “I want to be clear: we are not waiting until the fires are over to help victims. We are helping them all right now.
”People impacted by these fires are going to receive a one-time payment of $770. So they can quickly purchase things like water, baby formula, and prescriptions.
”So far, nearly 6,000 survivors have registered to do just that, and $5.1 million has gone out.”
Biden advised victims of the Los Angeles County fires to visit DisasterAssistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362.
As previously stated, the federal government would cover all fire-related and firefighting costs for the next 180 days.
Nearly $5.1 million in immediate aid has already been distributed, with victims of the Los Angeles wildfires receiving a one-time payment of $770.
Additionally, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) reports that approximately 33,000 residents have already registered for disaster assistance.
During a briefing with Vice President Kamala Harris and emergency officials, Biden emphasised that “It’s going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get Los Angeles to what it was. We are going to need Congress to step up with the funding.”
AccuWeather estimates that the overall damage and economic cost from the flames will range between $250 billion and $275 billion.
According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter, the preliminary estimate has eclipsed the entire damage and loss caused by wildfires over the 2020 season.
The destruction and economic loss have also eclipsed Hurricane Helene in 2024, which cost between $225 billion and $250 billion, and the catastrophic Maui, Hawaii fires in 2023, which cost an estimated $13 billion to $16 billion.
