News Update:
"Confusion led some evacuees to head toward Qualcomm's headquarters; they were redirected to Qualcomm Stadium, where about 10,000 people huddled on Monday night."
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News Update:
"Confusion led some evacuees to head toward Qualcomm's headquarters; they were redirected to Qualcomm Stadium, where about 10,000 people huddled on Monday night."
On the radio, i heard that Prez Bush is coming down to Southern California to see this disaster for himself.
Aust. has some pretty fierce bushfires but I've always respected the Calif fires that happen year after year.
In fact - I think you guys have received our firefighters more than once. Must be scarey stuff.
It is scarry stuff.... I used to live out there, years ago.... once in high school we had to be evac'd because the fire crested the mountain and was heading straight for us... got all the way to the back fence of the school....it's pretty etherial with all the ash falling around you...
-tg
My school is out of the way from fires (unfortunately). I live close enough to the fire to get the heat, smoke and ash, but live far enough away not to catch fire. The fires are usually right over the hills by my house.
Last fire we had we almost had to be evacuated. I try to keep up with the fires by listening in with my 2 way radio and my Police Scanner.
Yes, Bush is coming over to "view" the burn areas on Thursday. I listened to his speach today and as usual he was studdering and not knowing what his specifics were. :rolleyes:
Arnold was up in Arrowhead Lake area giving a speach and sounded much better then Bush.
Bush and dclamp in the same vicinity? Looks like California's IQ is about to double! :afrog:
Ok, but seriously uhm... must be tough and erm... they ought to take more preventive measures. For the future.
yeah like removing all of the mountains? and maybe Santa Ana, it is their fault. Stupid Santa Ana winds...
They do but the problem is that no rain + heat + wind = fire. Maybe if the UK could have sent us all that floodwater from the rains they recently had we'd be in better shape :D
Our fire season is almost all year around now.
Say, you are a smoker. Where were you on Sunday?
Well i just walked out side, from being inside since 2:00pm and i would like to report that, IT IS HOTTER THEN HELL OUTSIDE. and there is lots of smoke.
and i would like to add, everyone thinks California is the most perfect place to live. WRONG. we dont have perfect weather year round. the fires suck!
Its raining ashes now too. It was 95-100 degrees today :(
6 confirmed dead so far.
gah. worst part about the fires (for me) is the ashes! i cannot stand them. I am going to go take a look outside to see how it is.
this disaster will be the reference for the people that are still not in their homes after the huracane last year in New Orleans. i think, this could be the whip that bush will be hit with.
Well he will be within striking distance on Thursday :D
I mean come on, FEMA is only giving us $5,000,000 for all of so cal. We have just over 2,000 homes burned down at an conservative estimate of $250K each is $1/2 Billion dollars and a realistic estimate of average house of $500K makes it $1 Billion dollars. Now factor in the costs of fighting the fires, business buildings lost, revenue / income lost, etc we are in great need.
Dont forget we are in a big housing market crash here too and now dump this on us. Something is going to give and break very soon. Bush cant afford not to give us more $.
On the other hand, why should the government (and me as a taxpayer) bail you out, right? I can't afford to give you more money!
The private insurance industry is alive and kicking in SoCal, so the market will take care of you all. Those that didn't have coverage - well, that was stupid of them.
i Wasn't making a debate, I feel your Plight, i just stated that Bush will be judged on his actions here. no doubt the race card will be pulled on this subject.
I believe that Bush will bend over to accomodate in this case, however he has to answer the questions about the last Big tragedy if he does.
I also believe that the Government should help out although i think this should at least be seen to be equal and can't see this occuring.
david
Please do not make this into a political slamfest.
This is a live tragedy occuring, and IMHO, such comments are off-topic.
-Lou
Quote:
Originally Posted by NotLKH
Off topic
Cough Cough
Ohh and telling a mod to keep to the topic may not be the best way forward
And i just made an observation in the first post, and who are you to dictate to me? Please let the moderators do their job and stop throwing your weight about.
if you wana discus further then start a new thread i will be happy to repond
David
FYI,
This thread has not always been '[Serious] SoCal Disaster Updates'.
The original tone was not so dire, per the original participants, and the original title:
'Gash! It is so windy right now'
Since then, it has become a mega-disaster, and as such the participants are concerned about the safety of all in harms way.
I did not dictate. And, I have remembrances of the original WTC thread that occured a while back, and how things turned ugly, and had to be deleted for a while.
Hold up here... dclamp started this thread as not serious - and I've made quite a few not-serious posts. If it is to be a serious discussion - well, that's what the World Events forum is for, and can be moved there if dclamp wishes. RobDogg added the title '[Serious]', so what is it?
If you build in a disaster prone area, disasters tend to happen. Idaho had a single fire this summer that was over 600,000 acres in size, one of the largest fires ever, but it burned nothing but a few range cabins and a bunch of cows (mmmmmm barbequed beef).
We have towns that are certainly prone to fires. One in particular has dodged a major fire both of the last two years. Interestingly, the amount that the Forest Service spent on combating the fire the first year was higher than the total value of all the structures in that tiny town. Basically, it would have been cheaper to tell everybody to pack up and get out and build them new houses when the fire left.
CA has fires every year just like we do. Deal with it by not building in those areas that are dangerous, or covering it with insurance. The result of this, as it is in FL is that insurance rates will skyrocket or the insurance companies will leave the state (both have happened in FL in the last couple years). The government shouldn't be on the hook to bail out those who build in bad areas. If private insurance won't do it, then only those who can afford to take the risk should be allowed to build there. This should be true of flood prone areas, fire areas, and hurricane areas.
The serious tag was added to ensure it stay on a serious nature. I wouldnt think it was a world event and needing moving.
These are all issues we are dealing with now and for things to come. So those comments would be considered on-topic IMO.
Basically the govt is doing too little IMO. they will wait until its being forced under their nose that they will take more constructive action instead of a reactive reaction.
Isn't that the way of governments anyways? To react late to any given disaster. Any entity that is defined by legislation can never be fast enough to react to uncontrolled events.
Well Bush had plenty of time to sign the declaration declaring so cal a disaster area, which he just signed a few hours ago.
Bush just wants everyone to die...
Edit:
Sorry for the harshness.
Forgot it was serious :rolleyes:
Looks like the temperatures will be dropping to the mid 80's by this weekend.
Winds should be dying tomorrow.
Hopefully they will then be able to better fight the fires.
If you'd produce more smog - the cityscape alone could smother most of them. ;)
In seriousness, I'll be sure to remember TPM, dc and rob tonight. Good luck.
Since all people really want is the cash handouts from the federal government,so they don't have to be responsible for their own losses, its not typically something that needs to be promptly attended to.Quote:
Originally Posted by mendhak
Now, if the US federal government had an arsenal of fire trucks and 10,000 firefighters ready to be air-dropped to any place in need, then yes, perhaps that would lead to prompt action.
FEMA will show up, hand out a few brochures and some water bottles, and in a few months, they will write out a bazillion checks to anyone that breathes their way.
Just a thought that crossed my mind, didn't one of you say they found proof of arson?
If so, don't you wonder if some of these fires were started on purpose because of the housing market the way it is? Should be easy to find the culprits. If it does turn out to be arson and that was the motivation... Their punishment should be no less than castration by fire.
Also, they shouldn't be protected by civil law anymore. Meaning, if you see them - you are within your legal right to beat the crap out of them. Then to make back some of the lost tax dollars spent for reconstruction... They have to wear ankle trackers. And for $39.95 a month, you can subscribe to their signal on your GPS device. Whether you want to just go watch them get tossed around or take part in the action - you can find it 24/7.
Well only one areas fire was definately arson and proved. But the other 13 fires are from various sources like downed powerlines from the wind etc.
That would be a good way to get out of a house loan that is overloaned to value ratio.
This may seem mean, but i am with sevenhalo... they should be tossed in the fire or something. They should not get it easy with a life sentence in prison.
It has starts snowing ask in San Bernardino yesterday, nothing here Orange yet. The smoke blew over us, then the wind changed direction and is back over us again.
So it's a repeat of the Greek fires from a few months ago. Housing market, land prices, and all that.
[Personal Opinion]
I'd like to follow this thread without seeing any reference to any politics
[/Personal Opinion]
I appreciate the commentry by dclamp and Rob - the rest not so much - new thread perhaps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nemaroller
The dirty little secret to fighting wildfires is that people never put them out. In some circumstances, a fire line can be built, and the conditions will be such that the fire won't cross the line, but any line can be crossed with high winds. Burning trees can be thrown hundreds of feet ahead of a fire, and no fire line will be wide enough for that.
Almost every fire is put out by forces of nature. Through a combination of huge effort and good luck, a fire might get contained so that it doesn't spread further, and burn itself out, but CA doesn't have the luck (because of the wind), and no reasonable amount of effort will be sufficient without it.
Well, I will readily admit, I have no idea on how to fight a wild fire :) On the flip side, I had to stay at work until 10pm last night implementing functionality on our California site to allow people to deep link into available lease listings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker
So, I too have been affected :cry:
Another fire was determined as arsen. They actually caught the guy when trying to ask him some questions. He took off and crashed his truck.
So I think its 2 of the major fires are definate arsen and one caused from downed powerlines from the high winds.
It's mother nature's way of cleansing its planet... in the case of New Orleans, it was just stupid planning...
Not if Mother Nature is a human being setting fires. :p
My school district has canceled all extracurricular activities until Sunday, and those include:
- Homecoming Assembly
- Homecoming Football Game
- Homecoming Dance
So it sucks for all the people who have limo, dinner, hair, etc reservations, since homecoming is canceled.
Also, on my way home from school, there was one of those water helicoppters flying over my school. There is a lake like 2 minutes from my house that they possibly got water from.
They were pulling water from community swimming pools and anywhere else they could a few days ago.
All those 3 things you werent going to :D
Not sure if they have a home game but if they did this sundays Chargers football game will be moved or canceled.