21 dead, 285 missing, they evacuated Calistoga and the fires are still spreading. Absolutely devastating.
I’m pissed beyond belief that 45 is more concerned about getting into it with NBC than even fucking acknowledging our tragedy. I know we should expect this after Puerto Rico but I have to say it. This must be the anger stage of grieving because I’m LIVID.
To give some perspective on how massive this is, we live south of San Francisco, across a body of water and on the other side of a mountain, and the air quality is a serious concern. And we’re fine, of course, that’s not my point. But my heart is breaking for the people actually in the thick of this. If it’s this bad where we are, just imagine what people are dealing with across the bay.
Our local sports teams have done more than 45. The 7 teams have donated a combined $450k to those affected. He hasn't even acknowledged that there are fires.
the air quality is so bad that MULTIPLE school districts are closed tomorrow including dd's. even the Y (before/after school care) is closed as well. given the late notice, 7:30pm, LOTS of working parents are going to have to either take PTO or SCRAMBLE to find alt arrangements on super short notice. Schools are expecting to be closed friday as well ... not sure how long they plan to keep schools closed
eta - i'm 20-30 miles south from the fires
It's so bad. Our district is open tomorrow, but there is no outside time for the kids.
My heart is breaking for everyone in the North Bay.
Marin schools are open, but they've been inside all week (no recess, lunch at desks, etc). I kept DD home Tuesday because our air quality ratings were "very unhealthy." I'll probably do the same tomorrow.
Around here, so many people have family who have evacuated or lost homes. Many people from Marin move north to retire or for cheaper cost of living. Many people who work down here live up there. So far, no teachers at my kids' schools have lost their homes, but that could change tomorrow.
Post by WanderingWinoZ on Oct 12, 2017 8:11:05 GMT -5
Has anybody that's watched this closer have any feel on these missing people??? Are we thinking they are just "missing" in that somebody can't find them or is it a possibility that many/most/some of them have also died??? i don't have any understanding of the ability of the firefighters or rescuers to be going to burned down homes & searching for bodies.
"23 dead in Wine Country fires; historic Spanish Mission at risk" — S.F. Chronicle:
Has anybody that's watched this closer have any feel on these missing people??? Are we thinking they are just "missing" in that somebody can't find them or is it a possibility that many/most/some of them have also died??? i don't have any understanding of the ability of the firefighters or rescuers to be going to burned down homes & searching for bodies.
"23 dead in Wine Country fires; historic Spanish Mission at risk" — S.F. Chronicle:
It’s both. I heard on the news yesterday that at least seven cell phone towers were burned down so communication in that area is not great. There could be people who are safe but have no way to reach their loved ones. On the other hand, these are still very active blazes, hindering rescue efforts. Firefighters have not been able to check every home, every car, every structure. There’s a very real possibility the death toll will continue to climb.
Also, they’re forecasting high winds today which, as they said on the news, is like “throwing gasoline” on a fire. It could get much worse in the next couple of days before winds die down over the weekend.
Has anybody that's watched this closer have any feel on these missing people??? Are we thinking they are just "missing" in that somebody can't find them or is it a possibility that many/most/some of them have also died??? i don't have any understanding of the ability of the firefighters or rescuers to be going to burned down homes & searching for bodies.
"23 dead in Wine Country fires; historic Spanish Mission at risk" — S.F. Chronicle:
I think it's probably a combination. I saw something in the Chron where they had 600 missing people reported, and had located 315 of them, but when they get a missing persons report the first thing they do is go check their home. If they're safe but not there, how do you go about finding them? If there is a body to recover, and you have hundreds and hundreds of burned-out houses and vehicles, that is an enormous and slow process.
They are really badly strained on personnel. The NYT has a story this morning about how the fires are moving faster than firefighters can run, they have people who have worked 80 hours straight with little to no rest and the most they can do at this point is try to channel them away from towns because it's so hard to get any kind of fire line whatsoever -- they put out the edges and the wind starts new patches beyond in fresh fuel. Now the city of Napa has evacuation warnings. And the sheriff's deputies are busy handling active evacuations of thousands of people. It's really terrible.
We are in Northern Ca, about 100 miles from the fires, but have lots of family in the affected areas.
One family member just confirmed today that her house is completely gone. She was (VERY luckily) on vacation the past few weeks and was out of town when the fire came through. She just talked with a neighbor today who said that police were knocking on doors trying to evacuate their neighborhood in the middle of the night. The fire was moving faster than the police could get to each house. Many of her neighbors are still missing. I'm certain that if she'd been home, she wouldn't have made it out - she has hearing issues and lives alone in a huge house, and there is 0% chance she would have heard someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night. They are assuming that something similar happened to other neighbors and/or the police didn't even have time to knock at every door.
The evacuations seem to be more proactive and widespread now, but especially during the first day or 2, the fires were moving so quickly and unexpectedly, that people were evacuating with only minutes to get out, and many in the middle of the night. I'm sure many people are safe, just without the means to communicate. Sadly, though, I'd guess that a lot of people probably had no idea that the fire was coming and slept through sudden evacuations.
Post by ellipses84 on Oct 12, 2017 23:00:45 GMT -5
This is devastating. So far, I know two people who have lost everything. Having just gone through Harvey, it has been nearly 2 months of non-stop natural disasters and I feel like no place is safe. I'm heartbroken for everyone going through this tragedy.
Post by notsocreepylurker on Oct 13, 2017 10:30:58 GMT -5
I don't know where Kirkette lives - anyone know if she & her family are OK? I know she doesn't post here anymore (for good reasons) but I hope she is OK.
I don't know where Kirkette lives - anyone know if she & her family are OK? I know she doesn't post here anymore (for good reasons) but I hope she is OK.
I believe Kirkette is in SoCal, so she would be unaffected by these fire. Of course, there was a giant fire in Anehiem that may have affected her, but those evacuations have been lifted. Hopefully she's OK.
I haven't heard anything from the cousin in Sonoma. She hasn't updated her personal nor professional profile. I'm pretty sure their distillery (they make spirits and limoncello) is safe as I've checked on the winery list, and the ones next to her are still not listed. I'm sure she's inundated with messages, so I'm not going to bother her, but I won't lie and say I'm not worried.
Post by bohemianmango on Oct 13, 2017 12:51:26 GMT -5
I'm so upset. I keep hearing officials trying to inform immigrants that they don't have to worry about immigration raids at shelters. I hate that Trump has made immigration status such a concern that people are afraid to seek help.
ETA: there was a post (maybe on FB?) about where some people are staying off the side of the road. They needed donations to be dropped off. I can't find I t now. If anyone has info, please share. Thanks!
I'm so upset. I keep hearing officials trying to inform immigrants that they don't have to worry about immigration raids at shelters. I hate that Trump has made immigration status such a concern that people are afraid to seek help.
ETA: there was a post (maybe on FB?) about where some people are staying off the side of the road. They needed donations to be dropped off. I can't find I t now. If anyone has info, please share. Thanks!
The Marin civic center shelter is accommodating many likely undocumented victims, so I think the word is getting out. It's close to canal alliance and other pro-immigrant group in Marin so they might be helping let people know it's safe.
I can't read the stories. It's happened in my county and it's been devastating, I've seen those stories before, too many times. My heart is hurting for everyone who's lost so much. Even more for those who've lost friends and family members (including animals).
I do appreciate the stories about animals being found alive (there was one about a cat I scrolled past too) but the stories of people trying to escape and not succeeding are absolutely awful. They scare me in part because the whole state is so vulnerable. It could be any one of us in the future.
While progress on the Tubbs and Atlas fires appears to have slowed somewhat (when I look at the hot spot maps), the Nuns fire has not and continues moving towards downtown Sonoma (and parts of santa Rosa)