The death toll rises to 76 in California American News

By SUDHIN THANAWALA and TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press

CHICO, Calif. (AP) – The crews of northern California who fought the country's deadliest for a century were preparing for high winds, with gusts of up to 80 km / h, which could reduce gains 39 they made to contain the disaster that killed at least 76 and leveled a city.

While hundreds of researchers scour the rubble in the city of Paradise in search of the dead, nearly 1,300 people remain missing more than a week after the start of the fire in Butte County, a announced Saturday evening Sheriff Kory Honea. The authorities pointed out that the long list does not mean that they believe that all these people are missing.

Honea pleaded Saturday for the evacuees fires to review the list of people considered inaccessible by family and friends and call if they are safe. MPs have located hundreds of people so far, but their overall numbers are growing as they add more and more names, including those of the first chaotic hours of the disaster, Honea said.

"It's really very important for you to look at the list and call us if you're on the list," he said.

The remains of five others were found Saturday, including four in the decimated city of Paradise and one in the nearby town of Concow, bringing the death toll to 76.

Honea said that among the dead was 56-year-old Lolene Rios, whose son, Jed, told KXTV in Sacramento that her mother "cried unrestrainedly" that her mother "had an infinite amount of money. love for me ".

President Donald Trump visited the region on Saturday, accompanied by outgoing and incoming governors from California, both Democrats who traded beards with the Republican administration. He also traveled to Southern California, where firefighters were progressing through a forest fire that ravaged communities west of Los Angeles from Thousand Oaks to Malibu, killing three people.

The president promised the full support of the federal government. The governments elected Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, thanked him for coming.

"We've never seen anything like it in California, we've never seen it before.It's like a total devastation," Trump said as he stood in the middle ruins of paradise.

Rain was forecast for the middle of the week, which could help firefighters, but also make it difficult to find leftovers.

A camp fire in Northern California destroyed nearly 10,000 homes and burned 603 square kilometers. It is 55% content.

The fire zone in northern California is to some extent the land of Trump, and this enthusiasm was visible as dozens of people cheered and waved flags as its procession passed.

Kevin Cory, evacuated from a forest fire that lost his home in Paradise, congratulated Trump for going to a state often opposed to the White House.

"I think California was really horrible for him and his fights, I mean they're suing him," he said. "It's a back and forth between the state and the federal government.This is not fair."

But for the most part, the survivors, some of whom had barely fled and had no home, were too busy packing whatever little they had left or asking for help to pay close attention to the president's visit.

Michelle Mack Couch, 49, queued to enter a center of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the city of Chico. She needed a walker for her elderly mother and labels for her car.

"Let's hope he gets us some help," said Couch, who voted for Trump and whose rental housing was set on fire last week. But to take the time to look at the President, she says ironically, "We do not have any more television."

Honea expressed hope that Trump's visit would contribute to the recovery, stressing that the visit of the Republican President and the Democratic leaders of California "marks a spirit of cooperation in this country, which benefits the community and helps us on the way of recovery ".

In southern California, Trump also briefly visited an airport hangar where families and first responders were affected by the shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks more than a week ago. .

Trump called the shooting in a country music bar, which left 12 dead, "a horrible and horrible event".

Associated press editors Jonathan Lemire in Paradise, California, and Janie Har and Daisy P. Nguyen in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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