PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- helicopters which were dropping water and it did work and that containment number, by the way, 26 percent, it will no doubt go up again when they have a chance to compare notes and figure out just what they got to and what got at today -- Pam.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Yes, they certainly have their work cut out for them. Thanks so much, Paul Vercammen. We do appreciate it. In natural disasters such as the wildfires in California as you just saw in the flooding in Louisiana have left so many people with nothing but ruins. They are now just starting the very long and extensive process of digging out of their grief. A process we could be paying for, for years to come, and it's the focus of our series, "America's Debt and The Economy." California is in the beginning stages of requesting federal disaster aid for its wildfires. And in Louisiana where flooding swallowed up homes, more than 70,000 people and small businesses are now applying for federal funding now approved for 20 counties. That money will pay for temporary housing, repairs, even unemployment help for people who lost jobs because of that flooding. It could be weeks before we know the true price tag. But authorities are not shy about calling this the worst flooding since Superstorm Sandy, which ran up a bill of $8.3 billion. Again, that is just the flood damage. The only other disaster to top that, Hurricane Katrina, 11 years ago this month. The government spent $16.3 billion in flood claims alone on that one, which helped to make it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. He is being called the ugly American and now Ryan Lochte is apologizing, but is it too late now to say sorry?
Wildfire, Flood Disasters Add To What We Owe