Los Angeles Fire Losses Estimated At 57 Billion US Dollars, Opportunity To Become The Most Expensive Disaster

Illustration of forest and land fires. (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The fire that hit Los Angeles is estimated to be one of the most expensive natural disasters in history in the US with a nominal state loss estimated at 52-57 billion US dollars.

Quoting Bloomberg via Hindustantimes Thursday, January 9, the estimated material loss is based on an initial loss assessment.

According to AccuWeather Inc, the Los Angeles fire scorched the richest neighborhoods in the US such as Santa Monica andwasloss, whose home value is more than $2 million.

This fire was exacerbated by strong winds, so it spread rapidly to the point of burning houses.

Previously, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane Katrina was recorded as the most expensive natural disaster in US history, with an estimated loss of 200 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, forest fires in Myanmar in 2018, including Camp Fire, caused material losses of around 30 billion US dollars.

AccuWeather also noted that in addition to property damage and loss of life, fires in Los Angeles are likely to have long-term health impacts due to toxic smoke. This includes significantly endangering the tourism industry in the region.

"This has become one of the worst forest fires in the history ofTEN," said Chief Meteorology AccuWeather, said Jonathan Porter,

"If a large number of other buildings catch fire in the coming days, this may be the worst forest fire in modern history, based on the number of burning buildings and economic losses," he continued.