Working in Oakland, I can personally say that visibility is down to about 20 blocks. You can work in downtown Oakland not see the Bay Bridge and have trouble seeing the SF Bay water.
CoreLogic estimated that nearly 2,600 homes in Napa County are at “high risk” or “extreme risk” from wildfires, with more than 8,400 homes at risk in Sonoma Rosa (which the firm inaccurately labels “Santa Rosa County.”)
A 2016 CoreLogic report estimating potential wildfire damage in different states defines the terms that the firm uses, which are based on the density of housing and potential wildfire fuels nearby, plus the lay of the land and the area’s history of blazes.
The firm the translated that information into a 1-100 score for each home:
Based on this past analysis, CoreLogic estimates that of 133,985 residential properties that are assessed at potential risk in Sonoma County, 8,471 are in at least High Risk areas. In Napa County, it’s 2,585 homes out of 38,130.
All told though, roughly 200,000 homes are potentially at risk for some degree of fire damage in both counties. And the potential cost in the region for rebuilding from all of that: up to $65 billion.
Napa and Sonoma counties are home to more than 1,100 wineries in total, according to the Wine Institute, a trade group that represents the wine industry in California. The state produces about 85 percent of all U.S. wine, with the Napa and Sonoma region accounting for anywhere between 8 percent and 10 percent combined of U.S.-produced wine. Sonoma County alone generates $13 billion a year from its wine industry. Napa Valley Vintners, the trade association for America’s premier wine region, said four wineries “suffered total or very significant losses due to the fire.” At least nine others reported some damage, said the association, which cautioned that it had yet to hear from some wineries in the most vulnerable areas of the valley.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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