I wonder if @TatinG is referring more to news that is informative but also useful and practical. I live north of the southern Ca fires and my H and I both noticed that while the national news is covering the fires it isn’t giving useful details such as exact evacuation boundaries, info on when the highway will reopen etc. last December during the Thomas fire and the subsequent mudflow traders that was north of the current fires the local news were on multiple times a day. There was a lot of on the ground coverage. We were also given info on air quality and masks were available free of charge all over town. Also they listed hotels that were providing discounts to evacuated residents.
@TatinG you might check if your homeowners insurance covers hotel and meals.
Still no check in from several CC posters. Hope they and their homes are safe.
@TatinG The California Wildfires facebook page has a good amount of local information that might be helpful.
I can’t speak to national news but the local news here in Southern California has been fantastic reporting on important evacuation news and helping the fire fighters spot flare ups. The coverage has been nearly nonstop here for good reason. I also find twitter extremely helpful, as I follow LAFD, LACF, and my local elected officials. All have been tweeting important information on evacuations, how to help and weather updates.
@TatinG Im so sorry you are dealing with this. ((Hugs))
This morning , as I watched the fire news I saw my house on TV with a huge flare up near it. It was frightening. The fire crews swarmed all over and the house seems okay for now.
Oh, @TatinG. That sounds so scary.
OMG @TatinG -have you heard from any neighbors??
@TatinG, I hope your house survives. And that the Red Cross gets its act together.
The fires are getting covered here in Hong Kong, but I don’t feel like they are being covered as extensively as the fires that hit wine country two years ago.
Huge hugs, @TatinG. Hope the firefighters were able to defend your house!
^@mathmom, I know it seems like a long time ago, but the wine country fires and the fire in Santa Rosa were last fall.
I guess you are right! LOL. We were hiking in wine country (and drinking wine) this June, not a year ago June!
I grew up in the Santa Monica/Malibu school district. Several friends have lost family homes and a beloved teacher and his wife are displaced. It’s hitting so close to home. A distant relative lives in West Hills and is evacuated since Friday. She is fortunate to have a second home in Nevada and after a night at the Pierce College shelter has gone to her 2nd home. She has no idea what the status of her CA house is. ?
Talk to your homeowners insurance company. Almost any homeowners policy I have seen provides a trigger for your additional living expense when you are evacuated by a government authority. If your home is in an evacuation zone the company will pay for (and hopefully help find you a hotel room). Granted some of the more common insurers place caps on the amount of additional living expense coverage and if your home is severely damaged or destroyed you may run out of coverage before it is rebuilt but it is most likely better than being in a shelter as described. I am always amazed at the number of people that are shown on TV that state they are now homeless when they have been paying premiums to provide a home when a loss happens.
It has been confirmed that my parents’ Paradise home is gone. The lucky thing is that they were staying with my brother in SF at the time the evacuation order came out. Aunt and Uncle from Magalia evacuated and are in SF with my brother also but their house is standing for the time being.
My parents’ friends all had to drive through fire to escape. The smoke was so thick they could not see the road and many ended up abandoning cars in the ditches. My father uses a walker right now and we are not sure they would have made it. A friend whose husband had a stroke a couple of years ago is in a hotel but is not strong enough to lift him out of a regular hotel bed. He has been stuck there for four days.
I may make the long drive down to help sift through the rubble once Paradise is opened up, not expecting to find anything. Their whole life was in there. Now, everything they own fits in the trunk of their car, a few changes of summer clothes and a light jacket. It is devastating, albeit not nearly as bad those whose loved ones were burned or are still missing.
My parents had done all the recommended things. Brush was cleared far away from the house. Trees were removed. But 1000 degrees is 1000 degrees and anything combustible will burst into flames.
I swear to God, next person who mentions “forest mismanagement” is getting punched in the teeth.
Magnetron, I am so sorry. Glad your parents are safe, but it will surely be tough when reality sinks in.
That is awful, @Magnetron. At least they are physically safe. But I’m sure they feel truly awful inside. Or maybe numb at this point, but the heartbreak won’t be far behind.
We came close to losing our lake house in raging wild fires in west Texas a few years ago. Even though it wasn’t our primary home, the feeling of knowing your spiritual refuge (and neighborhood) is in danger of being incinerated was truly sickening. I cried for a few days, not knowing if our house was still standing. Our neighborhood was hit very hard, but our particular block remained intact. The ground was black all the way up to our gate, but beyond it, our house and grounds did not so much as have a singed leaf. The wind had changed direction just in time. It was surreal. Looking away from our house, I saw only devastation. Turning toward our house, and looking toward the lake, it was lush and green. Kind of like Dorothy leaving her black and white house and opening the door to colorful Oz. Our best friends’ house burned, and our time at the lake was never the same after they left. We sold the house 4 or five years later.
I’m sure climate change, the terrible drought, and the high winds and low humidity contributed greatly to these fars in CA. I have no idea what role the forest management played (if any), but right now what these people need is support, not criticism.
After the person who mentions “forest mismanagement” gets punched in the teeth by Magnetron, they should have to explain to us where the forests are for the Malibu fire. Looks to me like it was a fierce dry Santa Ana wind sweeping through the desert, over the hills and into the city, not a forest fire.
Glad your parents survived, @Magnetron.
So sorry @magnetron and hope your home (and that of your friends and neighbors) survives @TatinG . The Santa Rosa fires were so awful and now it is happening again.
So sorry that your parents lives are not going to be the same, @Magnetron. This is so much more than losing a house, it is losing your community. Hugs.