America’s Political and Financial Capitals Hit by Lightning, Now Entertainment Capital Being Devastated By Fire
The past couple of weeks have been really, really strange.
On New Year’s Eve, four of the most iconic buildings in the entire country were all hit by lightning. In our political capital, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol were hit. In our financial capital, the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center were hit. Subsequently, there were terror attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. And now here we are a week later, and our entertainment capital is being absolutely devastated by fire.
In some areas of Los Angeles, it literally looks like a nuclear weapon exploded. Some of the most iconic locations in the Los Angeles area have been wiped out, and even Hollywood Boulevard is being evacuated.
Hollywood Boulevard has been evacuated with 100,000 people told to flee with six wildfires raging as the apocalyptic skies of Los Angeles continue to fill with smoke.
Two new blazes broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City – forcing first responders to redeploy their already-scarce resources to the burnt landscape.
The National Guard has been deployed and could send in military personnel to assist, amid revelations that heroic firefighters are ‘triaging’ homes and neighborhoods.
One of the new fires that has erupted is located just west of the world famous “Hollywood” sign.
A new fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills near the “Hollywood” sign Wednesday evening.
There is a mandatory evacuation for Runyon Canyon and the Hollywood Hills.
The new fire dubbed “The Sunset Fire” came out of nowhere and exploded.
Hopefully they will be able to get these new fires under control very quickly.
Sadly, large numbers of expensive homes have already been lost, and this includes the homes of many big names in the entertainment industry.
By the afternoon, the Santa Ana wind-fueled fire had claimed the homes of more than half a dozen A-listers in the community perched above the Pacific ocean: Billy Crystal, Anna Faris, John Goodman, Anthony Hopkins, Eugene Levy and Miles Teller all lost homes there, according to social media posts and reporting by Page Six.
The Palisades home of Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, who walked the Golden Globes carpet together on Sunday, also burned down.
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“People” Magazine has published a list of 47 major celebrities that have lost their homes so far.
We have seen homes owned by celebrities get burned down in past fires, but we have never seen so many get burned down all at once.
Unfortunately, many of those celebrities will be joining countless others in the exact same uninsured boat. In 2024, large insurance companies ruthlessly terminated the policies of tens of thousands of California homeowners.
In 2024 Liberty Mutual and State Farm, two of the largest insurers in the country, told nearly 50,000 homeowners in the Golden State – some of whom were in high risk areas – that their fire insurance would be terminated in a bid to prevent ‘financial failure’.
At least 1,600 people in the affluent neighborhood of the Pacific Palisades – the hardest hit area of the fires – lost coverage when State Farm pulled out in April.
Furious residents are now publicly sounding off at insurance companies in the wake of the deadly blazes, with one local nurse slamming insurers for failing to renew the policy for her elderly parents.
What a nightmare.
Will the federal government come riding to the rescue?
On Thursday, it was being reported that the Biden administration has decided to cover 100% of the costs for “the initial disaster response.”
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the federal government would cover 100% of costs for the initial disaster response to the Los Angeles wildfires.
Meeting with federal officials at the White House, Biden said the funds would go toward debris removal, temporary shelters, salaries for first responders and more for 180 days.
Biden said he emphasized to California officials they should “spare no expense to do what they need to do.”
As I discussed in a previous article, the total economic damage from these fires could be in the neighborhood of 50 billion dollars. It will take years to recover, and Los Angeles will never look the same after this.
So precisely what will “rebuilding” look like in Los Angeles?
Prior to these fires, officials were planning to transform Los Angeles into a “smart city” by 2028.
Visitors for the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will find a transformational digital Olympic experience from the moment they arrive. Passing through LAX airport’s completely renovated terminals, they can use the new automated people mover to select between light rail airport connections, rideshare or taxi transportation choices. They will be greeted by digital signage, directed by multi-lingual electronic wayfinding and connected through their smartphone with the hotels, restaurants and venues that they are looking for during their stay. Whether visiting Hollywood Boulevard or Venice Beach, visitors will use smartphones or easily accessible kiosks to learn in their own language about the landmarks and readily available services to enhance their experience, including blind or deaf visitors.
This vision is already becoming a reality. As a three-time United States Digital City Winner (2016-18), the City of Los Angeles has been investing and continues to invest in the infrastructure, digital services and data tools to be a globally recognized Smart City. The SmartLA 2028 strategy is a concise summary of our vision, our approach to being a Smart City, and our roadmap to 2028.
At this stage, it is going to take an enormous mountain of money just to make the most heavily damaged areas of Los Angeles livable again.
And the destruction is far from over.
Since I began writing this article, even more new fires have erupted. That is not good news at all.
The region continues to be under a “red flag” fire weather warning, and there is no rain in the forecast for the next week.
Hopefully the winds will at least die down in the days ahead, because that is what firefighters need more than anything else.
Of course once this disaster is finally over, it won’t be too long before more major disasters come rolling along.
We have entered a period of unprecedented global chaos, and I have a feeling that 2025 is going to be filled with lots of unpleasant surprises.
Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
