These extreme wildfires in California and the natural disasters happening across the country are all part of a return interval that we have only observed to increase in frequency and intensity.
People were evacuated from their homes at 0200 hrs only to return during th day to smoke and ashes. They lost their entire home, their crop, and any sense of what it meant to be ready for something like this.
Here’s what you need to know about the Wildfires in California:
- Some 8,000 firefighters battling two-dozen deadly, destructive fires in Northern California faced another round of rapidly deteriorating conditions Thursday with a forecast of low humidity, dry fuel and winds gusts of up to 45 mph — with no hint of rain.
- At least 23 people have died and some 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed in sweeping wildfires that broke out on Sunday.
- Red Flag Warnings, forecasting dangerous fire conditions, were already in effect for much of Northern California, enveloping the Bay Area, and have been extended from Big Sur to the Santa Cruz mountains.
- Gov. Jerry Brown has issued emergency declarations for Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada, Orange and Solano counties.
- “We have had big fires in the past,” Brown said at a news conference Wednesday, alongside the state’s top emergency officials. “This is one of the biggest, most serious, and it’s not over.”
State fire Chief Ken Pimlott was equally blunt: “It’s going to continue to get worse before it gets better.”
- Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said hundreds of people were still reported missing, although officials believe many of those people — almost 400 — will be found.
- Some 8,000 fire personnel have been battling the blaze with little rest while help pours in from Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.
- Authorities have thrown vast resources at the fire, including more than 70 helicopters, 30 air tankers and 550 firetrucks.
