Los Angeles County authorities announced Sunday evening at a mayor with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass that the Pacific Palisades will be completely reopened to residents in daylight hours on Monday, January 27 — far ahead of schedule.
Two days before, at a roundtable at a local fire station on Friday, Bass had told President Donald Trump that it was unsafe for residents to return. After residents at the meeting objected, Bass relented and said they could return “within a week.”
Trump replied: “That’s a long time, a week. I’ll be honest, to me, everyone standing in front of their house, they want to go to work and they’re not allowed to do it. … They’re safe. They’re safe. You know what? They’re not safe. They’re not safe now. They’re going to be much safer. A week, a week is actually a long time the way I look at it.”
As Breitbart News reported, Palisades residents, many emboldened by the president, started flocking to their homes and lots on Saturday, often talking their way past police. And on Sunday, the county finally relented and agreed to let them return on Monday, weather permitting. Residents will be allowed to visit their lots as long as they want to do so, until 5:00 p.m.
Some will sift through the rubble for any belongings, others will simply grieve and make peace with their losses.
The process of removing debris is more complex, and could take months. But now, for many, the healing can begin.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
