I swear, I'm as sick of the Florida shit as you are, but I couldn't not link to this.
Oh, and the state's on fire. Again. They say it could be worse than 1998. In 1998, I remember thinking: Why is it snowing in Florida? In July? But it was actually flakes of ash from wildfires thirty miles away. I inspected a lot of the burnt-to-a-crisp houses afterward. Mobile homes with nothing left but charred framing, like headless, tailless, rectangular whale skeletons… Okay, bad simile. And this was only four months after tornados racked the area. I'll never forget the image of blades of grass, green bendy grass we're talking here, sticking out of vinyl mobile home siding. Imagine being killed by projectile grass. I say bring on the hurricanes. People got a chance to get out of town at least, but tornados and wildfires are like the great white sharks of weather. You're dead before you even know you're in trouble.
I swear, I'm as sick of the 
8 comments:
I wish they would ticket more people in speedos and other assorted ridiculous outfits with nasty ass fat and belly fat squeezed out from too tight spandex. Blech.
Two serious issues this morning.
The wild fires sound awful. 3,500 acres burned already according to CNN. And I was just in the neighborhood. Wildfires are terrible things (but necessary). Just a couple months ago I learned how San Diego dealt with their wild fires last October; it was amazing how well they handled evacuation of over a million people and how quickly they're recovering. I hope the fires are put under control quickly.
Regarding the speedo guy... if he really was bullied by a deputy, then good for him for taking it public. But a speedo? Dude.
I've nearly been sucked up in a tornado, had my town surrounded by blazing wildfire, been through 2 hurricanes, and grew up in California with earthquakes. There is a reason I prefer the Great White North, which has ice storms and lots and lots of snow!
Seriously, if I were to pick a natural disaster to have be my risk of choice, I think I'd stick with earthquakes, even after being near the epicenter of the Loma Prieta quake in 89. The devil you know, I guess...
From a friend who was about a block away from her house being cinders, the evacuation went well in SD, overall. Plus, relief works better in that sort of natural disaster because all of the infrastructure isn't shot to hell as in Katrina, when absolutely nothing (water, emergency, transportation, commo) were working right.
WW (or anyone else), if you are interested in the incredible failure-turned-success story of the San Diego response to wildfires, let me know. I'd be happy to share what I learned back in February.
The short version: The wild fires of 2003 (?) resulted in an unmitigated failure of local government, business, and nonprofits. Evacuation, relief, and rebuilding were at best atrocious.
Fast forward to 2007, and the city had a disaster plan and procedures in place that worked like a charm. Smooth evacuations, smooth coordination between government and business, quick relief and rebuilding (though there are still swaths of empty lots where houses used to stand). I think the only real Bad Guys this time around are the insurance companies (bit f'in surprise, right?).
Remarkable story. Sounds like Florida could learn a thing or two from San Diego's success.
Here in LA, we have 4 seasons: earthquake, wildfire, flood and mudslide, and drought.
But I put up with it because everything else (except the smog which is getting better; oh and the traffic - blech) is wonderful.
I saw a lot of comparisons between SD and Katrina, but it really couldn't be compared. New Orleans had to be completely evacuated. SD evacuated parts and not all at the same time. Yeah the overall numbers were more in SD, but the pace, the sheer distance it was spread across, the lack of flooding rain to aggravate matters (rain would've helped SD) and the economics (more poor 'evacuated' in NO) make NO the worst by far.
And speedo? Oh, please, no. But good for him to take the police to task for bad behavior if that's what it was.
We're crap at weather in the UK.
Best I can manage is a minor tremor at 1pm in the morning just after New Year.
It was the biggest we've had for 25 years and they had to report it on BBC news because most of the country slept through it.
Roll on the melting of the ice caps I say — let's have a level playing field.
BT, how close are you to all of this? You said you inspected the houses - whihc is why I'm asking.
I have nothing interesting, touching, or funny to say, but hey, at least I showed up, right?
Right.
Stay safe.
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