Priyanka Chopra hails brave first responders as wildfires ravish California
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles is under the heat of immense wildfires raging across the entire neighborhood and extending further. Being an affluent neighborhood, carrying a median home price between $3-4 million dollars, the damages caused by the fire are already looking to mount an extensive and expensive loss.
Bollywood and Hollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, a resident of California herself, has hailed the response carried out by the first responders. In a video posted to her Instagram story, she captioned, "My thoughts are with everyone affected. Hope we are all able to be safe tonight."
She also shared a photo of a helicopter dousing the flames, on her story. Expressing gratitude, she captioned, A huge shout out to the incredibly brave first responders. Thank you for working tirelessly overnight and continuing to help families affected."
Janisse Quiñones, the chief executive officer and chief engineer of Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power, said there has been "tremendous demand on our (water) system in the Palisades," resulting in tanks being emptied three times in less than 24 hours.
"We pushed the system to the extreme, four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight which lowered our water pressure. We were pushing 75 CFS (cubic feet per second) on our trunk line to try to keep water pressure in the system," she explained.
This water usage is sure to put strain on the water system on the state. With fires continuing to rage over California, over 100,000 citizens in the state have been forced to evacuate their residences prompting overcrowding in hotels.
California governor Gavin Newson has declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles. Safe to say, until the fires are contained, the state is going to suffer tremendous monetary and human losses.