guard down. >> thousands of buildings turned to ash. >> to be able to have a city wiped out in a day. >> and just who is on the hook for the billions of dollars of insurance payouts? >> that could be a bill of $1,000 for every homeowner in the state or more. this is cbs news bay area with juliette goodrich. it is something we all don't want to hear, but more powerful winds are coming back in southern california, forecasters warning they could trigger new fires and cause existing fires to explode in size. these are the fires we're tracking right now. the eaton fire is now one of the deadliest in state history with 16 confirmed deaths. the fires in all are blamed for 24 deaths. the palisades fire has burned 37 square miles and leveled much of the city of pacific palisades. so fire crews are ready to attack any

flare-ups from the palisades fire. this is near topanga canyon. you can see the winds already whipping up and the flag moving around there, the fire truck having the flag moving around. it's near hurricane force winds up to 70 miles per hour and it could return on tuesday. >> so like yesterday if an ember hit the green, if you will, 60 to 65% chance that will start a new fire. so that's what we're really concerned about. that's why they're keeping resources here because there's not too much smoke because the aircraft and the guys did a lot of good work and the crews went in there, but that's the big piece is the winds. they can blow embers two miles away. >> cal fire says close to 5,000 buildings and vehicles have been damaged or destroyed in the palisades fire. we caught up with one woman trying to salvage anything to bring her 89-year-old mom comfort. what she found was a symbol of hope. >> you see, this is a lemon that i salvaged from my lemon tree. i'm going to make

lemonade out of this. i'm going to rebuild. we're going to be stronger as a community. we're going to be better. >> close to 100,000 people are still under evacuation orders for the fires. fire crews have made significant progress in the eaton fire. it is 33% contained. cal fire says the fire has destroyed or damaged more than 7,000 buildings and cars. one altadena couple tried their best to save their home. >> there were all these spot fires. i mean again i was just running and stamping them out and throwing rocks on them and robert actually drains the water heater because we had no water. >> looks like a nuclear bomb went off. there's just flattened. >> they say focusing on the future is what's keeping them going. danya bacchus is following the firefight in los angeles. she has more on how fire officials plan to respond to tuesday's strong winds. >> reporter: firefighters in southern california are still

working to contain the active fires raging in the region, launching an all out aerial assault over the weekend of water and flame retardant. >> we had the wind in our favor. however, it was like the alamo. that was our last stand. we want to make sure these thousands of homes are protected. >> reporter: footage captured in the hollerly black community of altadena shows rows of homes wiped out by the eaton fire, where crews continue to search for victims. this home security camera shows how quickly the santa ana winds fanned the deadly palisades fire, scorching more than 23,000 acres he over the last few days. as residents of los angeles county prepare for another strong wind event, they're also told to beware of scammers preying on people in disaster zones. >> they stole over $200,000 as been alleged by the charging documents the. >> reporter: more than 15,000 firefighters are now in place compared to fewer than 1,500 when the fire started. >> all fire departments and all

law enforcement agencies in the area will be prepared. >> reporter: the national weather service is issuing a pds warning which stands for particularly dangerous situation concerning those santa ana winds, which are expected to bring gusts as high as 70 miles per hour to parts of los angeles and ventura counties. back here in the bay area, we had to worry about strong winds around the interior mountains of the north bay. they were on alert in parts of sonoma and napa county. zoe mintz is here with us. some good news for our area, but when we're talking about southern california, fingers are crossed. tuesday night is the real tough night, right? >> yes. tomorrow night into early wednesday is where all eyes will be focused on southern california. in the bay area a wind advisory was supposed to be in effect through tomorrow morning, but we've already expired it. so it's quiet for us, southern california not so lucky. hopefully, they'll be on the trend of quieter wind, but now,

unfortunately, they are still seeing quite gusty winds, especially on top of the mountains around los angeles. they'll only get gustier overnight tonight and into tomorrow when we can expect 50 to 60 plus-mile-an-hour wind gusts, especially on the mountains and only getting windier and windier late tuesday into early wednesday and then another round of very gusty winds late wednesday morning into the afternoon hours. that will be the 75 plus-mile-an-hour wind gusts that potentially could spark and help fuel any fires that do start. for us, though, taking a step back and being really appreciative we live in the bay area where we don't have that fire threat because we've seen a lot of rain. there is the potential for a little rain to head down towards southern california later this week. for us in the bay area, we have little to no chances of rain at least the next seven to 14 days. the winds again not anything too crazy tonight. you do notice it's a little more in the orange shade which means

you can see a 25-mile-an-hour gust overnight into tomorrow, but that's not reason to bring a wind advisory in effect. it's going to be breezy but not windy, no need to secure any loose outdoor objects unless they're really light and will blow away in a 25-mile-an-hour gust. either way it's going to remain pretty quiet as high pressure continues to build overhead. the low pressure system that brought the santa ana and diablo winds will make its way offshore. after wednesday everybody should hopefully begin to see calmer conditions and we'll begin to feel a bit of a cooldown. i'll let you know how cool it's going to get and when in my full forecast. back to you. >> thank you. people in the bay area viewing the damage in los angeles may be feeling grateful that the fires are not affecting this area, but that may not be true for long. as john ramos reports, changes to the way the insurance industry is regulated may mean we will

all be paying for at least a part of the cost of rebuilding. >> reporter: people living in fire prone areas will soon be paying higher insurance rates, if they aren't already, but now thanks to the state's new insurance rules, we all may be paying more for insurance because of the l.a. fires. one look at the devastation in pacific palisades and it's pretty clear we're entering a new world when it comes to fire insurance. karl sussmann is an industry expert whose home and office are both in one of the evacuation zones. >> this level of devastation is just -- we're not meant to deal with it as humans, you know, to be able to have a city wiped out in a day. it's almost biblical, you know. >> reporter: many homes in the l.a. canyons had already been pushed out of private insurance and into the state's fair plan, the insurer of last resort. the dark spots on this map show areas where fair plan

enrollment has increased by at least 250% in one year. governor newsom is well aware of it. >> my dad's house is under the fair plan, the state's plan. >> reporter: and it's very expensive. >> very expensive. it's not great coverage. >> reporter: the problem is the fair plan was never meant to have so many customers. its losses are paid by the insurance companies on a proportional basis, but the plan only has a couple hundred million dollars in reserve and a limited amount of so-called reinsurance, which is an insurance policy to help pay out insurance policies. after that's gone the new state rules that went into effect last month say the insurance companies will only have to pay the first $1 billion out of pocket before they can start adding surcharges to the bills of any and all of their customers in the state. steve young representing the independent insurance agents and brokers of california was trying to put a brave face on it today. >> it's going to be bad, but

we don't know how bad. it's not clear any assessments will necessarily have to be issued because again -- >> reporter: you honestly don't think it's going to be more than $1 billion worth of payouts? >> of assessments, no, because look, the fair plan has reserves on hand. >> the reality of it is that they're going to have to go to their second and third tiers to get money. they're not going to be in a position to have the money on hand to pay that. >> reporter: a group called consumer watchdog has been critical of the new regulations. they said from the beginning it was an attempt by companies to get all ratepayers to foot the bill for disaster losses. >> if people are on the fair plan, it's because the private insurance industry put them there by nonrenewing or canceling policies. if this catastrophe is as bad as it seems it may be and if many of those losses fall to the fair plan, that could be a bill of $1,000 for every homeowner in the state or more. >> reporter: but sussmann thinks the new rules were

necessary. >> if it worked for those regulations happening before this loss, i think we'd be seeing a mass exodus from every carrier in the state because they would have no way to figure out how to move forward from there. >> reporter: moving forward will invariably mean raising rates. the new rules allow insurers to charge more in fire prone area. the question is do we even know where those are anymore? >> our fire coverage continues on the cbs evening news. here's norah o'donnell. >> hey, juliette. the search for the missing, at least 24 are dead and nearly two dozen unaccounted for. tonight the story of one altadena family and their search for a loved one. we've got that and more tonight on the cbs evening news. >> thank you. still ahead here at 6:00, concerns about radiation levels at an east bay park. >> not inform information is being put out to inform the public. >> where it's coming from and what scientists say about whether people need to be

worried.

welcome back. now to some other stories we're following around the bay area, fire crews managed to contain a house fire in san

jose this afternoon burning near the fairgrounds on monterey road. everyone made it out safely, including three dogs, but complicating matters, power lines came down during this fire. so people were asked to avoid monterey road. no word what caused the fire. in oakland police are investigating yet another sideshow, this one late last night along macarthur boulevard near 106th avenue. police say the driver and spectators took off when officers arrived. it is unclear if anyone has been arrested. oakland police are also investigating a string of robberies at a convenience store and several gas stations. this was the aftermath at a 7-eleven on thornhill road. a worker says four armed suspects smashed their way in and then took money from the register. this was the scene at a chevron on pierson street. police say the suspects used objects to get inside. it is not known if

these robberies are connected. some concerns about a shoreline park with a colorful past, elevated levels of radiation have been found at the albany bulb. our amanda hari talked to one scientist who said the findings may not be as dangerous as you might think. >> reporter: gigi valdez has been visiting albany bulb for years. she gets some exercise, fresh air, and an opportunity to let her dogs burn off some energy. it's one of her favorite ways to get out in nature, that is, until she heard that there are elevated levels of radiation. >> to be honest, it's always in the back of my mind, the health. >> reporter: she was so concerned she temporarily changed her habits. >> for a while i didn't come, but i mean it's difficult to stay inside. you want to go out in nature. >> reporter: albany bulb was created in the 1960s by filling in a portion of the bay with landfill and it was used as a

landfill until the 1980s. the state ordered testing after documents showed from 1960 to 1971 a former richmond chemical plant dumped 11 tons of waste around the site. that testing found ten areas in the park with elevated levels of radiation. valdez says she didn't know the right way to proceed after hearing the news. >> i think that it's a lot of lack of information, not enough information being put out to inform the public about the safety. >> reporter: when uc berkeley professor and nuclear engineer kei vetter heard about the radiation, he wasn't surprised. he says radioactivity is common. >> wherever we go in our world we will find radioactivity. all objects in our world are to some degree radioactive. >> reporter: vetter believes albany bulb has experienced similar levels of radiation since it was created, but even in the areas with the highest levels it's not uncommonly high. >> for example, if you go to

denver, denver in colorado, you find about the same level of radioactivity as you find at the highest point in albany. >> reporter: vetter says based on the radiation levels reported at the park, there are no detrimental health effects. >> there were, people should continue to enjoy albany bulb. >> reporter: in a statement from the city of albany, they say they don't have enough information to reach specific conclusions on the public health risk. there will be another round of investigation that will include soil sampling and shallow subsurface measurements. valdez is still cautious and wants to hear more about the results and if they plan to reduce the radiation. >> but it would be nice if they can tell people what are you doing to really establish the balance in nature and for the health of the people. >> reporter: for now, valdez is going to continue to utilize the park, but she hopes for more transparency and answers in the future. >> the city says all the updates on the radiation will

be on their website, albanyca.org. it is cold and it's about to get windy. zoe mintz will be here with our bay "the doctor will see you now." but do they really? do they see all that you are?

at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you.

welcome back. let's get to our kelsi thorud. tell us where you are now and tell us what crews are doing to prepare for another dangerous night.

>> reporter: yeah, juliette. we're in la la quinata flintridge. this is an inmate hand crew. you hear a lot about california prisoners coming out and helping during wildfire incidents like this and this is them in action. this is one of the areas that cal fire is worried if the winds go pick up overnight, the eaton fire could come back this direction. we're kind of northwest of altadena, the area pretty much demolished by the eaton fire last week. you can see what these crews are doing. they are pulling all this brush down off of this hill trying to help if a fire does actually come back towards this way. it will not be as traumatic or intense as we saw last week. so they're cutting branches. they're cutting

trees, bushes, everything they can to just clear debris out of this area and this is actually right next to a water tank in this neighborhood and this neighborhood is right on the top of the foothills here in town. so where we're standing is currently under an evacuation warning. earlier it was under evacuation, so a lot of the homes around here, there are not people in them, but some people have come back now that it's under warning. that means they don't have to evacuate right now, but they should be prepared to evacuate if conditions were to change tonight or the next couple days. the big concern is the winds. we're seeing that change in direction of the winds. it's now coming back towards these more populated areas going towards the west, going towards the ocean. so that's why they're doing all of these mitigation efforts while they can. the wind right now is really not that bad. i

don't really feel anything. we're pretty high up. you can see city lights all down the hill from where we are. so we talked to these guys. they say they're going to be out here all night pretty much going up this entire road trying to do the best they can to protect all these houses and this is a neighborhood. we're at the top of the hill, but there's houses all along here and we've seen a lot of people. you see a car coming by right now. there's a lot of people still out here. so even though this is under an evacuation warning, a lot of people still here in the city. we'll be following this crew all night, but really tense moments here down in l.a. county still, juliette. >> absolutely. you get that sense of urgency with what they're doing on the ground now. we can see on either side of you those homes were spared, but the next question is what's going to happen in the nights to come? fortunately, the homes are still there and they're working feverishly into the night to make sure

they're saved with this next round, correct? >> reporter: yeah. that's the really big thing, right? the eaton fire already destroyed thousands of homes. we've been talking about altadena all week and the catastrophe that happened in that town. la quinata flintridge is just up from altadena. no structures were damaged in this area we're in, but they're trying to prevent that from happening because if the winds really pick up, if something were to ignite on the hills right behind these homes, that would spell disaster for this entire area. so they are really doing everything they can to stop that from happening. they only have so many hours until we're expecting those winds to really pick back up. >> still nervous times. thank you for your live report. we'll see you in the 7:00 hour as well. thank you. first alert weather powered by kia. learn more at kia.com.

kia, movement that inspires. >> let's get to zoe mint now. i can't help but cross my fingers and hope it's going to be a calm night. >> once the winds get above 30 miles an hour any attacks from the air when it comes to water drops basically become inefficient. hopefully it stays quiet at least the next couple hours. by early tomorrow morning we are expecting the winds to pick up for southern california. for us it's been quiet and calm and really warm. most of us are in some of our top ten, if not top first, warmest first 12 days of the year, san rafael, santa rosa at their first warmest when it comes to the first one through 12 days. i'm getting tongue-tied, but when it comes

to our heat in the bay area, the first 12 days of month the have been well above average. it was the warmest first 12 days of the month on record for places like santa rosa, san rafael, and even down to san jose. a lot of us, though, still saw five, six when it comes to rankings going back to the early 1900s. some of our top warmest starts to the year ever. the heat has definitely again apparent across the entirety of the bay area. it's going to stick around tomorrow as well, as our temperatures warm from the 30s early tomorrow morning to the 60s once again. if you liked the weather yesterday, you'll love the weather today and love it again tomorrow, these quiet warm conditions sticking around at least for the next several days, for the rest of t■he week. you can get out and enjoy yourself, especially if you like these above average temperatures because again, through friday they are going to stick around. normally this time of year we're in the upper 50s to maybe 60 degrees down near san jose. we've all

been well above 60 degrees, mid- to upper 60s, if not 70 for a couple places across the bay area. these above average conditions again sticking around through friday. by saturday looking for cooler weather, (♪♪) a single touch can say a thousand words.

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that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago and we are in a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise]

♪ all right. get ready to rock out to the bay area's own green day in napa valley. the music legends are headlining this year's bottlerock festival. bottlerock dropped its lineup today. thousands of people flocking to wine country for the three-day festival every memorial day weekend. three-day general admission tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. prices start at $456. we leave you now with the wolf full moon. can we show it? that was for one of our viewers at home looking. there it is! norah o'donnell is next. >> norah: tonight, los angeles braces for fierce winds. how new, dangerous conditions could impact the efforts to contain the blazes. >> we are making urgent preparations. >> norah: plus, as the death toll rises, we remember those killed. tonight, the search for missing loved ones.