U.S. President Joe Biden decided to cancel his scheduled trip to Italy to “remain focused on directing the full federal response” to California wildfires, a White House spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the day, Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California and ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires and straight-line winds that started Tuesday, media reports said.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster, according to a White House statement.
“We’re prepared to do anything and everything, as long as it takes, to contain the Southern California fires and help reconstruct. But we know it’ll be a hell of a long way,” Biden wrote on X.
Multiple major wildfires raging across California’s Los Angeles County, the most populous U.S. County, have killed at least five people and damaged at least 1,100 buildings, Xinhua news reported.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate due to a fast-moving wildfire in Southern California.
