US President Donald Trump met with California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and a Republican Kevin McCarthy at the White House. He said the men presented a convincing case for the state receiving the aid. On Friday, he reversed himself approving a package of wildfire disaster relief for California hours after officials from his administration had explained why the state should not receive the aid. Point to be noted that the disaster relief aid covers 6 major wildfires that scorched more than 1.8 million acres of land. It has destroyed thousands of structures and caused at least 3 deaths last month. Newsom issued a statement and said, “Just got off the phone with President Trump, who has approved our Major Disaster Declaration request. Grateful for his quick response”.
This relief package adds to the 68 fire-related aid packages for California that Trump has approved during his tenure, including 61 for firefighting, 5 for disaster relief, and 2 for support of emergency services. It is noteworthy that California has suffered a series of massive fires since August when freak lightning storms ignited hundreds of blazes and some of which grew to be the largest in modern state history. Consecutive fires in September tore through parts of the the Sierra Nevada and wine country north of San Francisco. A White House spokesperson, Judd Deere said the September fires weren’t supported by the relevant data that states must provide for approval and the President concurred with the FEMA administrator’s recommendation.
The press secretary of FEMA, Lizzie Litzow said, “The damage assessments of some of the fires were not of such severity and magnitude to exceed the combined capabilities of the state, affected local governments, voluntary agencies and other responding federal agencies. Litzow referred to the fires that started in early September, which included one of the largest fires in the history of California. Trump’s reversal on the aid came after members of his party in California urged him to change his mind. Sen. Andreas Borgeas wrote a letter to Trump and said, “I am writing to respectfully request your reconsideration. The Creek fire devastated parts of Borgeas’ district and caused massive damage during these most unprecedented times”.