President Biden said the federal government will provide one-time payments of $770 to people impacted by the ongoing California wildfires, so they can pay for essentials like baby formula, prescriptions, clothes and food.
Biden made the announcement Thursday evening during a briefing from the Oval Office on the situation in Southern California. According to the president, nearly 6,000 people had been approved to receive the payments thus far, leading to a total of $5.1 million that has already gone out through this program.
"We're not waiting until those fires are over to start helping the victims. We're getting them help right now," Biden said from the Oval Office.
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The president approved California's disaster declaration on Jan. 8, opening up federal funding to affected individuals in Los Angeles for the purposes of 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 wildfires. Additionally, the president pledged that the federal government would cover 100% of the cost of California's disaster response for a period of six months.
Meanwhile, during the Monday evening briefing, Biden called on Congress to step up with more funding for the wildfire and its victims.
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"It's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get Los Angeles to what it was," Biden said during a briefing with Vice President Kamala Harris and emergency officials. "We are going to need Congress to step up with the funding."
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell indicated during the Monday briefing that a total of 33,000 people impacted by the California fires had requested federal assistance. She said the number continues to rise, and they don't expect it to slow down in the near term.
Criswell added during the Monday Oval Office briefing that about 700 to 800 people were currently staying in eight emergency shelters as a result of the wildfire, noting that meant a lot of folks had found shelter with family and friends, or in hotel rooms. Criswell said that through the federal government's disaster declaration, people staying in hotels could be reimbursed for the costs.
In addition to FEMA, the Department of Defense and National Guard have also deployed federal resources to help fight the fires that have claimed at least 24 lives so far.
