LEAST 15 YEARS.
CALIFORNIA HAS LOST MORE THAN
1.6 MILLION ACRES TO WILDFIRES
THIS YEAR.
LAST YEAR MORE THAN 1.2 MILLION
ACRES WERE BURNED.
IT'S WHERE THAT ENTIRE CITY
IS WIPED OUT, BUT OTHER AREAS
DEVASTATED BY TRAGEDY HAVE
BOUNCED BACK.
MacY JENKINS HAS BEEN DIGGING
INTO THIS AND HAS MORE OF THE
OTHER CITIES HITS BY SIMILAR
DEVASTATION.
Reporter: A LOT OF
INTERESTING CONTEXT HERE, THE
-- IN HER LIFETIME.
REBUILDING EFFORTS WILL NOT BE
QUICK BUT OTHER CITIES HAVE
DONE EVEN IF IT TAKES SEVERAL
YEARS.
TORNADO, HURRICANE, FIRE.
CITIES FROM COAST TO COAST HAVE
ALL BEEN TOUCHED BY MOTHER
NATURE AT SOME POINT.
BUT FEW HAVE BEEN DECIMATED
LIKE PARADISE, CALIFORNIA.
I WAS IN A WHOLE OTHER PLACE
OF TRULY FEELING LIKE I WAS
GOING TO DIE.
Reporter: IN THE TOWN OF 18
SQUARE MILES, 12,000 STRUCTURES
HAVE BEEN DESTROYED IN 71 PEOPLE
ARE DEAD.
THIS IS GOING TO BE
EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, WHEN YOU
HAVE TOTAL LOSSES LIKE
PARADISE, YOU HAVE TO
CONCENTRATE ON HELPING
COMMUNITIES BRING BACK THE
INFRASTRUCTURE.
Reporter: THESE IMAGES TAKE
STACY BARNES BACK TO HER OWN
TRAGEDY IN 2007.
HER HOMETOWN HITS BY IT EF5
TORNADO, 1.7 MILES WIDE AT THE
SAME SIZE AS THE ENTIRE CITY.
I WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF
TOWN.
YOU SEE THIS DESTRUCTION
EVERYWHERE.
SO VIRTUALLY THE WHOLE TOWN WAS
DESTROYED.
Reporter: -- WAS COMMITTED
TO HELPING REBUILD PICK
YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ONE
PROJECT HERE, YOUR TALK ABOUT
HUNDREDS OF DECISIONS EVERY DAY.
Reporter: STORES, HOMES, AND
CITY BUILDINGS ARE BACK BUT THE
POPULATION OF A RECOVERED.
1200 AND 2007 AND NOW JUST 900
PEOPLE.
MANY RETIRED COUPLES DECIDING
TO START FRESH SOMEWHERE ELSE.
A SIMILAR STORY IN A SOUTHERN
LOUISIANA COMMUNITY AFTER THE
BAYOU CORN SINKHOLE FORCED 350
PEOPLE TO EVACUATE IN 2012.
TODAY JUST A DOZEN PEOPLE
REMAIN.
SHE ENCOURAGES THE PEOPLE TO
RISE TO THE CHALLENGE AND HELP
START A NEW CHAPTER IN THEIR
OWN HISTORY BOOK.
IN THE END, IT'S THE PLACE
YOU WANT TO BE, IT IT'S WORTH
IT.
