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A look astatine the demolition from the L.A. fires
As wildfires spread crossed Southern California this week, President-elect Donald Trump formed blasted connected authorities leaders and called for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to resign successful a bid of Truth Social posts.
Trump accused Newsom of prioritizing biology policies implicit nationalist safety, and claimed that FEMA lacked the funds to respond to the crisis. CBS News Confirmed looked into immoderate of the claims. Here's what we know.
Newsom disputes Trump's assertion astir a h2o restoration declaration
Trump claimed Newsom "refused to motion the h2o restoration declaration" that helium said would person directed millions of gallons of h2o to areas present burning, alleging helium prioritized a tiny fish, called a smelt, implicit residents.
In response, Newsom's bureau said, "There is nary specified papers arsenic the h2o restoration declaration – that is axenic fiction."
Trump appeared to notation his administration's 2019 proposal to redirect h2o from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Central Valley farms and Southern California municipality areas.
California officials and environmentalists successfully sued to situation it successful portion due to the fact that they argued the rules would endanger wildlife successful the Delta, including the smelt fish.
In December, President Biden's administration, successful practice with Newsom, endorsed caller regulations they said volition let much h2o to beryllium pulled from the Delta to Southern California portion besides protecting section wildlife.
An authoritative who helps oversee Southern California's h2o proviso refuted Trump's assertion that his projected changes could person mitigated the wildfires.
Mark Gold, h2o scarcity manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council and subordinate of the Metropolitan Water District Board that provides h2o to 19 cardinal radical successful Southern California, told CBS News, "The issues person thing to bash with what magnitude of h2o we person stored wrong the region. The Metropolitan Water District has a grounds magnitude of h2o stored astatine this time."
Southern California has ample h2o supply aft erstwhile years of decent rains, Gold said, but the deficiency of rainfall successful the portion successful caller months dried retired vegetation — thing Trump's connection wouldn't person helped with.
"What happened has thing to bash with protecting the Bay Delta and however h2o is being managed there," Gold said.
Trump says determination is nary h2o successful the occurrence hydrants
In multiple social media posts this week, Trump referenced "no h2o successful the occurrence hydrants."
Los Angeles officials faced fierce disapproval aft immoderate occurrence hydrants ran adust successful parts of Pacific Palisades overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday.
Janisse Quiñones, main enforcement and main technologist of the L.A. Department of Water and Power, said astatine a Wednesday property league that each 3 1-million-gallon h2o tanks successful the country ran adust by 3 a.m., reducing h2o unit for occurrence hydrants astatine higher elevations.
Quiñones said the tanks, which proviso unit for hydrants successful the hilly Palisades, couldn't refill accelerated capable arsenic firefighting efforts drained h2o faster than the main trunk enactment could proviso it.
L.A. Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said the LADWP proactively filled each disposable h2o retention tanks earlier the fires began. It followed immoderate wide shared claims connected societal media that officials had refused oregon failed to capable the tanks.
Mark Pastrella, manager of the L.A. County Department of Public Works, said that the municipal h2o systems for the impacted areas were overtaxed, partially due to the fact that firefighters were incapable to usage aerial enactment owed to precocious winds and mediocre visibility.
"The municipal h2o systems that work our homes and businesses proceed to enactment effectively. However, they're not designed to combat wildfires. A firefight with aggregate occurrence hydrants, drafting h2o from the strategy for respective hours is unsustainable. This is simply a known fact," Pastrella said.
In a statement, Newsom said helium was calling for an autarkic probe into the nonaccomplishment of h2o unit to section occurrence hydrants, and "the reported unavailability of h2o supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir."
The Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon h2o assets adjacent the Pacific Palisades, was out of use for repairs erstwhile fires tore done the Los Angeles vicinity this week, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Trump claims determination is "no wealth successful FEMA"
Trump besides lobbed criticisms astatine President Biden successful a societal media post, claiming the existent medication is leaving him "no wealth successful FEMA."
FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund was rapidly dwindling past October aft Hurricane Helene and a bid of large disasters, but Mr. Biden signed a measure successful December that added $29 billion to the fund.
On Wednesday, the bureau told CNN they had astir $27 cardinal near successful the Disaster Relief Fund. CBS News has reached retired to corroborate the existent balance.
In a statement, the White House said FEMA has approved Fire Management Assistance Grants to reimburse California for firefighting costs.
Laura Doan is simply a information checker for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and societal media.
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