Thursday, October 25, 2007
Back Home, At Last!
Last night the evacuation order for Rancho Penasquitos was finally lifted. We drove back home, unpacked, and settled into our familiar bed for a wonderful night's sleep. Be it ever so humble...there is no place like home.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wildfires of San Diego, Part Deux
As natural disasters go, San Diego 2007 is surely no Katrina. It has been two days since we've been declared a state of emergency. We've been plugged into the news since the very beginning and we've seen no images of embittered San Diegans complaining about a lack of attention from local, state and federal government. It's truly amazing how organized the relief efforts have been.
The evacuation centers have been described as a "resort spa" atmosphere. At Qualcomm Stadium, they've been offering yoga classes, massage therapy and emotional counseling. Yeah, this is San Diego. They've been inundated with supplies from local businesses for the evacuees: food, medicine, toiletries, blankets, entertainment, etc. There have been so many donations, they're even able to turn away food because they have too much. Doctors and teachers have converged there to teach lessons and provide medical care. People here have been behaving themselves, no major incidents of looting or law breaking.
We've had two visits from the Governator so far. Our firefighters have been working side by side with firefighters from across the state. They've been working on very little sleep and food to prevent the fires from spreading. These guys are awesome! Federal planes have been sent (unfortunately they've been grounded due to bureacratic red tape), but the military have been deployed to help put out the fires. Bush is slated to arrive tomorrow. Michael Chertoff and FEMA are here and on the ground fielding questions. They say the damage estimates for SD county are nearing $1 Billion. Bush has just offered to assist non-insured homeowners with the rebuilding effort. The fires still rage on. More evacuations are announced. So far, San Diego has shown grace under pressure. Bravo San Diego! You've made us proud!
The evacuation centers have been described as a "resort spa" atmosphere. At Qualcomm Stadium, they've been offering yoga classes, massage therapy and emotional counseling. Yeah, this is San Diego. They've been inundated with supplies from local businesses for the evacuees: food, medicine, toiletries, blankets, entertainment, etc. There have been so many donations, they're even able to turn away food because they have too much. Doctors and teachers have converged there to teach lessons and provide medical care. People here have been behaving themselves, no major incidents of looting or law breaking.
We've had two visits from the Governator so far. Our firefighters have been working side by side with firefighters from across the state. They've been working on very little sleep and food to prevent the fires from spreading. These guys are awesome! Federal planes have been sent (unfortunately they've been grounded due to bureacratic red tape), but the military have been deployed to help put out the fires. Bush is slated to arrive tomorrow. Michael Chertoff and FEMA are here and on the ground fielding questions. They say the damage estimates for SD county are nearing $1 Billion. Bush has just offered to assist non-insured homeowners with the rebuilding effort. The fires still rage on. More evacuations are announced. So far, San Diego has shown grace under pressure. Bravo San Diego! You've made us proud!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Wildfires in San Diego
On Sunday morning, Jose and I momentarily thought someone in the community was being a bit overzealous with their barbecuer. We soon noticed that a blanket of smoke had turned the sky a brownish tone. This was clearly a fire. Jose and I were living in Ann Arbor when the 2003 fire hit San Diego, but we'd become acquainted with minor wildfires that had since blazed through parts of the county. Our experience had been that these fires were far away and easily contained. I went to bed on Sunday, thinking that I needed to sleep early in order to get an early start the next morning. Jose was much more concerned and had the radio tuned to KPBS which had non-stop coverage on the wildfires. We both ended up staying awake until 1 am, astonished by how quickly it seemed to be spreading. We didn't say it aloud, but both of us were worried about whether we might be directly affected.
On Monday morning, I awoke at 5 am and got ready quickly. Groggy and annoyed with my lack of sleep, I started the ignition and was greeted by KPBS and yet more coverage on the wildfires. It wasn't sounding good. A woman was talking about what might happen when the fires reach San Pasqual, "and what will happen to the animals at the Wild Animal Park?" she pleaded. When I got onto the I-15 North, I heard the commentator say that 15 was shut down in both directions. Good grief. I still had it in mind that I'd head over to the 5 and try that route. The KPBS commentator had another obstacle. I-5 was jam-packed. What to do? I went back home and tried to call in a sub. At about 7 am, I got the call. Vista High was closed. I turned on the TV and woke Jose up. At 8 am, Qualcomm called. Jose was to work from home today. This was getting very serious. At about 9 am, we heard our neighbors milling about outside. Sure, we'd see our neighbors from time to time, nod and smile and offer a "hello" or "how are you?" But this time, our interactions were dripping with concern and a collective hope for one anothers' well being. George was off toward Chula Vista to see friends. Lee and Ren were off to Mira Mesa High School which is the nearest designated evacuation site. Jose and I were planning to join my cousin in Scripps Ranch. The air was full of ash and began to irritate our eyes and lungs. It was time to get going. We all wished one another well and departed.
By noon, we'd found ourselves at Bomi's house. We were there for a couple of hours when the police sounded their sirens and called out an evacuation order. We needed to move out again so we headed to my aunt's house in Mira Mesa. We hoped that there would be no other evacuation order there.
The traffic to my aunt's house was unbelievable. The streets were clogged with evacuees trying to leave Scripps Ranch. What would have normally been a five minute journey extended out to 45 minutes! When we got to aunt's the TV went on and the fire continued to spread throughout the county. An outpouring of phone calls came in from concerned family and friends. How were we? Did we need a place to stay? Do we know how the house is? We're so lucky to have so many caring friends and family to help us remember that even though disaster strikes, we have good people around us. That afternoon Jose got a call from Qualcomm to work at home for the next couple of days. I was informed that VHS would be shut down until next Monday. I joked with him that since our bags were packed and we had some unexpected time off, that we should go someplace fabulous. That fish didn't bite.
After spending the night in Mira Mesa, the next morning we discovered that the evacuation order for Scripps Ranch was lifted. Hooray! Bomi and Yeon Jae went home that afternoon. Jose and I checked out Rancho Penasquitos and found that it would be best for us to stay in Mira Mesa for one more night.
On Monday morning, I awoke at 5 am and got ready quickly. Groggy and annoyed with my lack of sleep, I started the ignition and was greeted by KPBS and yet more coverage on the wildfires. It wasn't sounding good. A woman was talking about what might happen when the fires reach San Pasqual, "and what will happen to the animals at the Wild Animal Park?" she pleaded. When I got onto the I-15 North, I heard the commentator say that 15 was shut down in both directions. Good grief. I still had it in mind that I'd head over to the 5 and try that route. The KPBS commentator had another obstacle. I-5 was jam-packed. What to do? I went back home and tried to call in a sub. At about 7 am, I got the call. Vista High was closed. I turned on the TV and woke Jose up. At 8 am, Qualcomm called. Jose was to work from home today. This was getting very serious. At about 9 am, we heard our neighbors milling about outside. Sure, we'd see our neighbors from time to time, nod and smile and offer a "hello" or "how are you?" But this time, our interactions were dripping with concern and a collective hope for one anothers' well being. George was off toward Chula Vista to see friends. Lee and Ren were off to Mira Mesa High School which is the nearest designated evacuation site. Jose and I were planning to join my cousin in Scripps Ranch. The air was full of ash and began to irritate our eyes and lungs. It was time to get going. We all wished one another well and departed.
By noon, we'd found ourselves at Bomi's house. We were there for a couple of hours when the police sounded their sirens and called out an evacuation order. We needed to move out again so we headed to my aunt's house in Mira Mesa. We hoped that there would be no other evacuation order there.
The traffic to my aunt's house was unbelievable. The streets were clogged with evacuees trying to leave Scripps Ranch. What would have normally been a five minute journey extended out to 45 minutes! When we got to aunt's the TV went on and the fire continued to spread throughout the county. An outpouring of phone calls came in from concerned family and friends. How were we? Did we need a place to stay? Do we know how the house is? We're so lucky to have so many caring friends and family to help us remember that even though disaster strikes, we have good people around us. That afternoon Jose got a call from Qualcomm to work at home for the next couple of days. I was informed that VHS would be shut down until next Monday. I joked with him that since our bags were packed and we had some unexpected time off, that we should go someplace fabulous. That fish didn't bite.
After spending the night in Mira Mesa, the next morning we discovered that the evacuation order for Scripps Ranch was lifted. Hooray! Bomi and Yeon Jae went home that afternoon. Jose and I checked out Rancho Penasquitos and found that it would be best for us to stay in Mira Mesa for one more night.
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