Los Angeles

[Blaze]

I imagine most people are following the stories of the terrible fires in Los Angeles. It's devastating in all senses of the word. For many, their house is not a secondaire, and all their lives and memories have gone up in smoke. Some people may not have any resources to reconstruct - and goodness knows what psychological effect it will have for some. Sadly the press has centred on how many "stars" have lost their properties - what about the many other "ordinary" people who have lost everything ?
It says a lot for the fire services etc that .so far there has been little loss of human life. This is perhaps the first time that an "upmarket" area of Los Angeles has had such serious damage from forest fires - so often when we hear of natural disasters, it concerns people who have little or nothing.

I've been looking at google maps of the area. With land prices presumably at a premium, the houses are built cheek by jowl even though they all have big front gardens and the roads are wide.

Some people who have lost their homes have said that they are insured and would reconstruct. However, there is no guarantee that insurance companies would pay out. Indeed I believe that in the case of, for example, natural disasters where insurance companies would risk going bust, they can refuse to pay out even if the person is insured for such an event.

I doubt any of this is going to make the slightest difference to the US attitude to climate change. DT has had little to say about it - well, California is Democrat, so of no interest to him. Now if such a catastrophe were to happen in Florida ......

[niemeyjt]

Combined with arsonists and politicians who actually cut the budget for firefighters and failed to manage land and water resources - yes, it is a real mess.

Tragic for the innocents.

[Wilbro]

At least 10 dead and many will suffer long term mental trauma and financial loss because of the fire. An appalling event.

[Polly]

It’s really shocking to watch the fires taking over Los Angeles and terrible for anyone caught up in it. 10 deaths so far, but that number will very likely rise, sadly. The firefighters must have had reinforcements from other brigades as it must be totally exhausting for them. So very sad.

[rabbit]

Fortunately Megan and Harry are on hand to give the victims a hug. Oh and they have a camera crew with them

[Veem]

Apparently Mexico has come to the rescue by sending resources to help. I doubt Trump will acknowledge that, so I will personally thank Mexico in his place.

[niemeyjt]

Ditto Canada

[Loup-garou]

The way Global Warming is effecting everything, soon, the only safe place will be Greenland! Oh, hang on a minute ...............

[Blaze]

Some people are angry and say not enough has been done to halt the fires. They complain about having received a text to evacuate which then turned out to be a false alarm. Don't they watch the news ? Don't they see what's going on around them ?
Whilst I cannot imagine being caught in such a terrifying situation, I find some of the complaints difficult to understand. People become so dependent on info on their mobile phone that good sense has gone out of the window. I would have thought most people, seeing smoke in the distance and knowing how much has already gone up in flames, would have packed their bags and gone before the roads get clocked with those leaving at the last minute. I gather many people keep a bag packed ready to go. Many load up their cars then leave at the last moment. The roads get clogged and they have to abandon their cars.

As for the complaints about the fire services .....

The fact that properties worth millions have gone up in smoke is nothing compared with the lives saved. To date 24 bodies have been found and no doubt the death toll will rise. But without the evacuation orders that were sent out, the death toll would have been considerably higher. A lot more people would have stayed at hoe too long and perished.

Goodness only knows what will happen after the 20th January .... (he'll be too busy trying to buy up the world to worry about California. I wonder if the people complaining about the authorities and fire services will vote Republican thinking things would have been done better ...)

[glazedallover]

You should temporarily change your user name on this one..........