Tech meets tornado recovery

From Ashes to Action: OptiCloud Turns Digital and Energy Waste Into Climate Action

In January 2025, Los Angeles experienced one of the most catastrophic wildfire events in its history. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by extreme weather conditions and human negligence, consumed over 40,000 acres, destroyed more than 17,000 structures, and claimed 28 lives. OptiCloud, a pioneering technology company, offered hope through its transformative approach to digital sanitation, cloud efficiency, and artificial intelligence (AI) s…

Tech meets tornado recovery

Traditional methods of assessing damage after a disaster can take weeks or even months, delaying emergency response, insurance claims and long-term rebuilding efforts. New research might change that. Researchers have developed a new method that combines remote sensing, deep learning and restoration models to speed up building damage assessments and predict recovery times after a tornado. Once post-event images are available, the model can produc…

AI is coming soon to speed up sluggish permitting for fire rebuilds, officials say.

With a boost from nonprofits, the city and county of Los Angeles are getting free AI permitting software. Will it speed up the process or add another hurdle to rebuilding?