(Reuters) – The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced the creation of a relief fund to support and rebuild small businesses affected by the wildfires that have ravaged parts of Los Angeles for the past week.
The Chamber will provide grants ranging from $5,000 to$10,000 as a direct support along with disaster recovery webinars and business advising support to guide through the rebuilding phase.
The monstrous fires have killed at least 25 people, damaged or destroyed nearly 12,000 structures and consumed an area the size of Washington, D.C. already.
Some 6.5 million people remained under a critical fire threat as winds were forecast to be 20 to 40 miles (32-64 km) an hour with gusts up to 70 mph and humidity dropping into the single digits during the day, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday.
The new fund got an initial donation of $500,000 from Bank of America and additional contributions of $250,000 from Chevron and home security company Ring.
Bank of America committed $1 million to the American Red Cross last week to help with the recovery efforts, $500,000 to the LA Regional Food Bank in addition to half a million dollars to the LA Chamber.
Meanwhile Canadian lender Royal Bank of Canada and L.A.’s City National Bank announced a combined donation of $3 million to support victims of the devastating wildfires in Southern California.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates total damage and economic loss between $250 billion and $275 billion, which would make the LA fires the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, surpassing Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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