FEMA won’t enact a major housing program that would help California wildfire survivors. Homelessness after the fires is both “predictable and preventable,” housing advocates told ThinkProgress. An excerpt from the article:

FEMA told ThinkProgress in an email that as of Tuesday morning, only 49 families (120 individual people) have checked into hotels through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program. The TSA program pays for hotel sheltering for people displaced in emergencies.

But there are other programs available to FEMA. The agency has thus far refused to enact a Department of Housing and Urban Development-administered program that would provide essential housing relief to those people in desperate need of stable housing. The Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP), created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, provides housing subsidies to survivors and evacuees, and covers the cost of rent, security deposit, and utilities.

The Paradise fire is catastrophic. And the wildfire threat to California is only growing. The ingredients that fueled the deadly wildfire were brewing for years. Residents only had minutes to flee. An excerpt:

The fact is, climate and forest science tells us that massive wildfires like this are likely to become more destructive as average temperatures rise and populations grow, putting people and fuel into closer contact. We can do many things to reduce these risks. However, the Camp Fire is a stark vision of a future where we do nothing.

Update on Nov. 18. Some pictures of the aftermath of the fires in CA.