Hot, Dry Weather Fueling Western Wildfires
BLACKWELL: Let's turn now to the dangerous and destructive wildfires that are burning across the Western</s>U.S. PAUL: Yes. We're talking about more than 100 large fires burning across 12 states. Look at the map there, 28,000 first responders and support personnel are battling those wildfires in the West right now. In fact, fires in California, alone, have burned more than 3.1 million acres. That's an area, just to give you some perspective here, that's twice the size of the state of Delaware. And we also know at least 26 people have died in those fires just since last month. So, officials are preparing for the possibility that there will be more.</s>BLACKWELL: And it's not just the fires that are creating the problems there. Almost the entire West Coast is under air quality alerts. And now, there's a warning from medical professionals. The smoke can make you more susceptible to COVID-19 and other ailments. CNNs Camila Bernal is joining us now from SDK to Oregon. More than 500,000 people across that state have been told to evacuate. Show us around for as much as you can with that thick smoke and tell us what the situation is this morning.</s>CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Victor, the situation is really all about smoke at the moment. As you mentioned, the air quality is pretty bad. It's what the governor, Kate Brown, says is the worst in the world. And I'll try to show you, I know it's dark out and it's hard to see, but this is not anything other than smoke, a gigantic permanent cloud of smoke. And so it makes it hard, not only for people who are in this area, because it irritates your eyes and it makes it hard to breathe, but it makes it really difficult for firefighters, they're not able to be up in the air. They're not able to, in many times, even see the fire line. And so their job is made difficult because of this smoke. On top of that, you have reports of dozens of people missing at the moment. So, of course, the governor, Kate Brown, also very concerned about that, and then also seeing just the massive destruction that these fires have caused. It is just unbelievable to really realize how big these fires are. You guys, earlier, spoke to the city manager in Talent, Oregon, that's about five hours from where I am, and the damage there is also extensive. Take a listen.</s>SANDRA SPELLISCY, CITY MANAGER, TALENT, OREGON: It's going to be a very difficult search process. The areas that were impacted are, we're not talking about half-burned buildings or smoldering ruins. We're talking about utter devastation with simply twisted metal and piles of ash.</s>BERNAL: Now, the weather is improving, but keep in mind, that this fire is zero percent contained. So, the work ahead is going to be long and difficult. They say the smoke is also going to stay in the air for at least a couple of days. So, really, it is going to be difficult for the firefighters and for the many people who've had to evacuate and that don't know it when they if and when they come back, they're going to find their homes again. So, of course, just so difficult and heartbreaking for so many residents here in this area. Victor, Christi?</s>PAUL: Camila Bernal, we appreciate it so much. Thank you. Let's bring in CNN's Allison Chinchar because we know that strong winds and dry conditions have fueled this thing. How does it look for the firefighters out there who are -- who are battling this? It's a tough call.</s>ALLISON, CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is and the conditions aren't ideal. But at least a little bit of bright news is the conditions this weekend are improving slightly, winds are starting to come back down, at least compared to where they have been, temperatures not nearly as hot. Again, it's not ideal conditions, but we're making improvement. But the biggest concern with all of these fires is the smoke. And the problem is it's widespread. You have four different states that are looking at air quality alerts right now. You've got Idaho, you've got Washington, Oregon, as well as California. So, it's not just one state, but notice a couple, it's the entire state that you're dealing with those air quality alerts. Now, one thing to note too, they desperately need rain, that's the biggest thing. And then not only would it help the fires, but also drought. Take a look at how many of these areas are under drought in the western half of the country. So, obviously, rain will significantly help that but there really isn't much in the forecast until at least Monday, but that's the short term. What about the long term? Because on Thursday, NOAA released that we are now under a La Nina advisory. And basically what that means for the continental U.S. is you're going to continue to have dry, warm conditions for much of the southern U.S. That includes the southwestern U.S. where, again, as you notice from that last map, we already have drought conditions. Now, as again, as we mentioned, on Thursday, they upgraded us from a La Nina watch up to an advisory because they are now seeing that those La Nina conditions are present. Now, another thing that that has an impact on is hurricane season. Typically, in La Nina events, the Atlantic Ocean ends up having more hurricanes than a normal season. And a lot of that has to do with the systems that come off of the coast of Africa. A lot of that leads to more favorable development those. And take a look, this is right now, this isn't a typical La Nina. This is what is happening right now. Look at all of these systems that are out there. Some have names, some don't, but all of them are actively being watched by the hurricane center. But the one that has the biggest imminent threat to the United States is this, Tropical Depression 19 sustained winds of 35 miles per hour. And, again, Victor, Christi, the main concern here is going to be the rain because this is not a fast-moving system at all. So, over the next several days, this is likely going to dump a tremendous amount of rain along Florida and the rest of the Gulf Coast.</s>BLACKWELL: It's remarkable that we are this far into the alphabet for storms this season, and we're not even at mid-September, that we could soon see the S storm named. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.</s>PAUL: Thanks, Allison. So, here's a quote for you, being with you today was truly amazing. Those are that -- those words are from newly-revealed love letters between President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un. We say love letters because that's how the president characterized them at one time. What the new book by Bob Woodward reveals about the President's relationship with dictators.