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It's the Brian Lear Show on WNYC, and to end the show today, we're going to be talking about how we can help the folks in Los Angeles who have been dealing with all the destruction from the fires since January 7th. We might be far away, but this city certainly has faced its own calamities. And so many of us have friends and family in Southern California

who may even be staying with us right now. So let's talk about how to best help with our guest,

Elise Hugh, a journalist and podcaster in L.A., whose work you might have heard this week on NPR,

welcome to the show, Elise. Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

And if you could tell us, how are you doing in the midst of this crisis for your city?

Yeah, thanks for asking. Well, physically well, you know, and I'm under a roof, but this is a horribly disorienting time for the entire community. So I'm kind of just shell shocked and everybody in

L.A. knows somebody who lost everything because of the scale and the scope of this disaster. It's so

wide, it's so far reaching. So it's been a rough start to the year for L.A., but at the same time,

in a lot of the worst of the crises we've encountered as humans, you know,

we see the best of humanity. And that's really warmed me so far in this, gosh, over a week

now that we've been having to deal with these disasters. Yeah, it's truly an awful start to the

year. Listeners, we want to hear from you as well. If you've found good ways to help,

what pressing needs are you hearing about from friends and family in LA? You can call or text us

at 212-433 W-N-YC. That's 212-433-9692. At least, just to start, you know, where do things stand now with the fires?

I've read that the winds have subsided but may come back, but the fires are still in, you know,

active threat to populated areas? Are there still evacuation orders in place?

So many people are still evacuated. Now, fire crews have gotten the upper hand on two of

the major fires that you've probably heard about a lot. The Eaton fire in the east and the

Palisades Fire in the West, they are increasingly contained, but they've done so much damage

already, and at least 80,000 people are still evacuated.

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