The Map Of Truth
By Thursday, October 12, 2017, many people were still evacuated from their homes and were not allowed to return to the area to survey the damage as embers and natural gas lines were still active. 20,000 people had evacuated at this point, sending thousands to local shelters without knowing if their homes had survived the fires. That’s when officials announced they had an updated map of the damage available to the public. People were then able to view the maps online and see if their house was still standing. (The red shown are trees and other agriculture, not fire.) For many people, this is how they found out if they still had a home to get back to when the evacuation orders were lifted in a week or longer.
Sadly the death toll continues to rise during the California wildfires, as tens of thousands of residents are displaced and many lost everything. If you’d like to help, please visit the GoFundMe campaigns that were launched to help victims.
