Hurricane Francine Makes Landfall While California Burns

The remains of hurricane Francine continue to dump moisture on the southeast. When it made landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday it was a Category 2 storm, delivering winds of 100 miles per hour and 8 inches of rain in New Orleans. Across Louisiana 350,000 homes lost power.

Both Louisiana and Mississippi have declared states of emergency. Some of the areas hit are still recovering from 2021’s Hurricane Ida.  

Wilson Garner, Ashland, Louisiana: "Ida tore this trailer up and tore the back house up so we didn't come out. We still trying to get everything straight with FEMA and restore Louisiana to a place to have a home again, and it costs me money I don't have. I don't know how they expect me to pay stuff when I was in a disaster and don't have money."

Residents of the region were warned of a possible 10 foot storm surge. 

In California, wildfires in the mountains east of Los Angeles destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands to evacuate. The Bridge fire is burning out of control and has scorched over 50,000 acres in Los Angeles County. 

In Orange County, the Airport fire has consumed over 23,000 acres, about 36 square miles, and fire crews have only been able to contain about 5 percent of the inferno. 

Cooler weather may help firefighters in their quest to contain all of the blazes.

In an attempt to prevent out of control events like these, the USDA announced a $3.2 Billion dollar Wildfire Crisis Strategy, a plan to safeguard communities that interface with wildlands. The goal is to reduce the wildfire risk in 559 communities across the country. 

Sec. Vilsack: “Now these resources are going to allow us to work with states, local governments, tribes, and non-profit organizations, working to promote healthier forests throughout this 14 state area and within these projects.”

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs