Fires deal economic blow to many poor, elderly
By Marjie Lundstrom, Darrell Smith and Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee
The wildfires ripping through California have at least 20 different names, in 10 different counties.
The Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County. The monster Atlas Fire in nearby Napa County. The Cascade Fire in rural Yuba County.
And because this is California, with its diverse populations and wildly contrasting geography, the paths to recovery will be a whole lot different, too, according to experts on natural disasters. The survivors who are likely to struggle the most, study after study shows, are the people already struggling: the poor, the disabled, the elderly and children.
Even with financial assistance – and that is iffy – the ability to readily regroup may be out of reach for many Californians displaced by the terrible fires of 2017.