SoCal Woolsey Fire

Houston is also an interesting situation, with human development also appearing to have a major negative impact. Unchecked and poorly planned development has caused areas that were previously thought to be "500-year" flood zones to now get flooded, not because the weather is super weird, but because the people that built up the areas did so without the necessary planning and preparations. Good article here - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...rricane-harvey-flood-houston-development.html. I do believe in climate change, but I also agree with Marv that when it comes to humans, common sense is not at all common.

 

Yeah, Houston has always flooded as long as I lived there. No need for a hurricane, it just rains hard and some part of the city floods.

There honestly needs to be a major floodworks project on the scale that the Netherlands has.

 

Ah, that video was enlightening. Some of the tree density there for a populated area is much higher than what I am accustomed to from semi-rural Australia (NSW).

 

I wasn't familiar with it. The descriptions make it sound like something that should be in Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory

Throughout the years, about ten low-power nuclear reactors operated at SSFL, in addition to several "critical facilities" that helped develop nuclear science and applications. At least four of the ten nuclear reactors had accidents during their operation. The reactors located on the grounds of SSFL were considered experimental, and therefore, had no containment structures.

The location of SSFL was chosen in 1947 for its remoteness in order to conduct work that was considered too dangerous and too noisy to be performed in more densely populated areas. In subsequent years, however, the Southern California population grew, along with housing developments surrounding "The Hill". Today, more than 150,000 people live within 5 miles (8 km) of the facility, and at least half a million people live within 10 miles (16 km).​

 

There is a reactor in Denver run by the Feds. It is within 1/8th of a mile from residential areas. It's surrounded by them, in fact. Even though it's not a secret, no one knows it's there. I've stood on top of it and looked down at the core while it was running. This might explain my baldness.

(Reactors glow blue, not green.)

 

...or your super powers

 

That's a beautiful area that seems like it has a nice small town feel. I never made it into that area when I lived in CA.
In 2008, my town (Cedar Rapids, IA) had a flood where there was water 15-20 blocks from the river in some areas. The entire downtown area was flooded up to the second story of buildings. It was a 500 year flood. Since then we've had 2 close calls where new flood wall protection and lots of temporary sandbagging saved us.

While the city recovered, the wave of federal recovery money turned into a total shit show as the city scurried to spend it as quickly as they could on new shiny buildings in the same flood zone. There was nothing structurally wrong with the old buildings and they were sold off cheap to businesses that renovated them. We got a multi story state of the art library out of this with marble floors, expensive sculptures, etc. that predominately only gets used by the homeless so that they have free internet access. A few years ago the city wanted us to vote on a bond to raise enough money to staff this albatross.

 

I hope they're eating environment-friendly avocados while they complain xD

 

California Department of Toxic Substances Control claims everything is hunky dory so far with the current fire. Doctors disagree.
https://qz.com/1461195/did-the-woos...ornia-says-no-and-a-group-of-doctors-say-yes/

 

That is some very serious shit going on. If those nuclides went airborne they should be keeping people far away. “It’s safe.”
I seem to recall they said that about DDT when I was a kid. Famous last words.

 

@purr1n , I wish you well. Stay safe. I grew up in the Santa Monica Mountains (hills of Brentwood), and I remember the 1978 fire. I've also evacuated twice from my home here is Los Alamos due to fire. Never fun.

Remember that your home insurance will likely cover your mandatory evacuation expenses, so save your receipts.

 

Shit, that's just science! What do academics and scientists and researchers know? Politicians that almost half the country trust say otherwise. It's not like those politicians have some sort of ulterior motive to question climate change! Right?

OK, way off topic here.

I'm gonna try something. If it works, great. If not, oh well.

Please donate to the American Red Cross to help fire victims in California. Sure, there are lots of other areas that need help too, but this thread is about the fires in California.

I will match up to $1000 of total (aggregated) donations from SBAF folks. Simply donate and send me a PM with how much you donated.

https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/

I will match all the donations (up to $1000) that are made between now and the end of November.

There is a drop down at the donation link to select the California Fires. I suggest you select that option, but I will still match if you select another other option.

 

@AllanMarcus - What a wonderful idea! You pushed my lazy butt into motion. Well done in making this suggestion and I'll PM you the amount. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving