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U.S. NEWS Friday 3 November 2017

American Living:
California fire victims seek housing in tight, pricey market

By SUDHIN THANAWALA “I heard of stories where
Associated Press people would show up to
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — the open house and offer
Raj Sodhi, his wife, Lucia multiples of the rent,” So-
Cascio and their 11-year- dhi, 43, an engineer at a
old twins turned into no- technology firm, said. “It’s
mads for more than three not just expensive, but it’s
weeks after a wildfire gut- also hard to get the expen-
ted their California wine sive places.”
country home — living in a Sodhi and his family were
hotel room and the homes staying last week with his
of a friend, a boss’s boss wife’s friend and her two
and then another friend. children in an ample split-
“The camping trip from level home in a tree-lined
which you never come subdivision in Santa Rosa.
home,” Sodhi said at the The bass Sodhi plays in a
latest home where his fami- jazz group was on the liv-
ly stayed while trying to find ing room floor, one of the
a new rental in a region few things he and the fam-
that had a housing short- ily grabbed as they es-
age and some of the high- caped the flames. His son,
est rents and home prices Jaco, was sharing a room
in the nation even before with the family’s son, while
the fires. the family’s daughter had In this Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 photo, Lucia Cascio, left, talks with her husband Raj Sodhi in the living
The most destructive wild- moved to the master bed- room of a friend’s home in Santa Rosa, Calif. Cascio and Sodhi lost their home in Santa Rosa’s
fires in California’s history room and given her room Fountaingrove neighborhood in the wildfires.
killed 43 people and have to Sodhi’s daughter, Sofia. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala)
left thousands of people in The kids and a babysitter few people have lingered prosperity of the people friends with homes big
the fire zone north of San lay on the floor in a circle in shelters — just 132 people living in the fire area on enough to have an extra
Francisco scrambling for playing a board game in in Sonoma County late last the northern edge of the bedroom,” she added.
shelter. the den.“I wish I didn’t have week, down from a peak booming San Francisco Sonoma County supervi-
Some fire victims have to burden her,” Cascio said of nearly 5,000 on October Bay Area, and the nature sors voted last week to
doubled up in bedrooms or about living at her friend’s 10, according to county of- of the disaster. temporarily block new va-
slept on living room floors house. She said everyone ficials. The majority of those Flood victims often have cation rental permits and
at the homes of friends or who has taken the family still in the shelters were homes that are salvage- allow travel trailers and
family. Others have placed in has been extremely gra- previously homeless, said able and stay in shelters other recreational vehicles
ads on Craigslist, seeking cious, but she’s sensitive to Red Cross spokeswoman at night, commuting to to function as homes on
land where they could the strain house guests can Cynthia Shaw.In contrast, their homes until they have all residential lots outside
park a trailer temporarily or create.The rental vacancy a month after Hurricane made them habitable fire-damaged sites without
pitch a tent. rate in Sonoma County be- Harvey devastated Texas, enough to sleep in, Shaw county approval.They also
“Lost everything in fires,” fore the fires was 3 percent more than 1,300 people said.Shannon Van Zandt, approved the use of guest
one person posted. “Look- and a mere 1 percent in were living in shelters. Near- a professor at Texas A&M houses and pool houses
ing for a place to put a Santa Rosa. Then the city ly 15,000 people remained University who has studied as rental units for fire vic-
travel trailer for little while lost an estimated 5 percent in shelters six weeks after how communities recover tims.Those efforts and oth-
until I can get back on my of its housing stock to the Hurricane Katrina flooded after natural disasters, said er housing solutions the
feet.” flames. New Orleans in August the region where the fire county is pursuing may not
Many have struggled to find County officials do not 2005.The hurricanes each struck is also relatively af- be enough to keep some
permanent or even tempo- have figures on how many displaced far more people fluent — meaning people people from leaving the
rary housing in a booming people are in temporary than California’s recent are more likely to have in- region, said Margaret Van
rental market that faced a housing and how many wildfires.Still, experts say the surance and savings to pay Vliet, executive director of
shortage even before the people have found long- relatively smaller percent- for temporary housing. the Sonoma County Com-
blazes took out more than term solutions. age of victims remaining “They also have greater so- munity Development Com-
6,000 homes. But unlike in other disasters, in shelters may reflect the cial resources. They have mission. q