California’s newly homeless fire victims face the state’s severe housing shortage
Originally in Vox by Umair Irfan
The recent disastrous forest fire at Paradise has caused 63 death, and at least 631 people missing. The worrying situation in Paradise triggered public’s anxiety , on the one hand, finding the rest survivors. On the other hand, to those estimated 52000 evacuees, “they all need food, shelter, and safety. Eventually, they’ll need new homes.”
Housing situation in the Butte County
“Up in the hills among Gray pines, cottonwoods, and walnut trees, a town like Paradise was an oasis in the state’s punishing housing market. In Paradise, the median household income was $47,000, below the national median income of $61,000, but more than 70 percent of residents owned their homes. Many of the residents were retirees living on fixed incomes or young families in search of safe and affordable housing.”
“Housing was already scarce in Butte County before the Camp Fire. The housing vacancy rate was less than 2 percent, which “is considered a crisis state,” Mayer said. And unlike wealthier Sonoma County, where fires destroyed thousands of homes last year, many residents of Paradise don’t have the financial means to rebuild their homes quickly.”
“The county has the capacity to place 800 to 1,000 households in permanent housing, Mayer said, but its short-term options are overwhelmed. Officials have offered no timetable for when residents will be allowed back to their homes, if they’re lucky enough to have a home still standing.”
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