Before-and-after photo shows the devastation of fires raging through California's wine country
Parts of the idyllic suburb of Santa Rosa, California, were engulfed in flames on Monday as a series of wildfires ravaged pieces of Northern California's wine country.
More than a dozen fires whipped by powerful winds blew through Napa and Sonoma valleys, known for their vineyards and wineries. The blaze torched at least 1,500 homes, businesses, and other structures. The situation is being called one of the worst firestorms in state history.
Santa Rosa was among the cities hit the hardest. A neighborhood known as Coffey Park — a cluster of single-family homes located two miles outside the downtown area — has largely turned to smoke and ash. These before-and-after images show the scale of the devastation.
Here's what Coffey Park looks like on Google Earth.
(Google Earth)
By late Monday, Coffeey Park was unrecognizable.
(California Highway Patrol/Golden Gate Division/Handout via REUTERS)
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday that nearly the entire subdivision of single-family homes — built in the 1980s — is gone. The neighborhood has about 8,000 residents.
The extent of the damage in the greater Santa Rosa area is unknown.
An estimated 20,000 people have evacuated the California counties affected by wildfires. There are more than two dozen emergency shelters in Sonoma County alone, and they are filling up.
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The 'Diablo winds' explain why the fires burning California's wine country became so destructive
This map shows the devastating impact of fires ravaging parts of California's wine country
SEE ALSO: The 'Diablo winds' explain why the fires burning California's wine country became so destructive
