Emerging On The Other Side Of The Crisis

Karin and the Little One

Since this is a site about Karin's pregnancy, I'll start with this: We felt Karin's passenger kick for the first time. Karin thinks the baby was upset with me because I had inadvertently backed into her.

Because we were considering leaving town, Karin had called the hospital to see if it might be possible to reschedule tomorrow's ultrasound. They hospital rep told her that, due to the high number of cancellations resulting from the fires, we might not get an appointment for a while. We decided not to leave town.

Evacuation, Part Two

Our one night stay in Point Loma turned out to be a pleasure for us. The air was much cleaner and we were given Andrew's very comfortable room. Julie and Holly really came through for all of us on Monday night. It was a very last-minue thing. At 10:00 PM they received a call and were told to expect 10 people (in addition to their 4), two dogs (in addition to their 1), and one cat (in addition to their 2). By the time we arrived they had beds prepared for all of us. This is all in the midst of a pretty intensive renovation that they are undergoing. Their kitchen has been completely taken apart. And, in fact, on Tuesday morning, the contractors arrived early and started working. Yet, we were all made to feel very comfortable.

Impacts Vary Significantly

That is a perfect example of how localized this all is. We in the northern (and southern) burbs were evacuated and our houses are all at risk. People living more centrally were barely affected. For example, Karin and I had lunch (and very fine Gelato) with friends who live in Little Italy yesterday. Their living situation had barely changed. The central part of San Diego (from a north-south perspective) was almost unaffected. Planes and trains are running, the streets appear to be quite normal, and the air is barely compromised. But go north or south 5 miles and it is clearly a major natural disaster. Over 500,000 people evacuated from their homes.

Air quality really varies significantly from area to area. We have been successfully avoiding the really awful stuff. When we had driven back from Vegas during the 2003 fires, we had to constantly wear masks. This time we have not yet been in the really disgusting thick stuff - and we will not be going into any such areas.

Santa Ana Winds

The fires are the result of dry conditions and Santa Ana Winds. Santa Ana's are föhn or adiabatic winds. We learned about them in pilot school. In essence, they are created when cold winds pass over a mountain range and fall, creating pressure. That pressure heats and expands the air, which then turns into strong, dry, hot winds. While Southern Cali normally has onshore winds, during the Santa Ana's, the winds come out of east. They make for ideal fire weather.

Luckily for Southern California, the Santa Ana Winds only last for a few days at a time. If they were to go on for weeks at a time, for example, people would have no chance of maintaining any kind of normal construction in their path. They are completely overwhelming. During the height of Santa Ana Winds, the relatively insignificant amounts of water and flame retardant that firefighters can delivery - even in massive aircraft - are completely overwhelmed. We really are at the mercy of mother nature. As soon as the winds die down and some moisture returns to their air, the fires become manageable. Before then, there is really no contest.

Work

As for work, Karin's office has been closed most of this time - primarily because they are in an area hard-hit by the fires. Many of the employees had been evacuated and many of the main highways in the area had been closed. Karin probably will be going back to work on Friday. She may be asked to go earlier to do admissions at one of the hospitals in the area. We are going to keep her and the little one out of polluted air, however.

My office is closed and will probably reopen only when the courts reopen. The Director of our organization has been going in to the office to access the database because our web portal has stopped working. Yesterday I had to go in as well to make sure my client appointments had all been canceled. There was kind of a funny thing that happened while I was there but I'll save that story for another time.

Media Coverage is Insufficient

Media coverage has been completely haphazard. In a time of crisis, leaving the provision of information up to private entertainment-driven news sources is really not sufficient. It's expensive to provide real-time information about a massive natural disaster, and there is no news outlet that is going to put together an army of well-equipped reporters to gather the data necessary to keep people properly informed. But, this country also doesn't trust evil government. That puts us in a real bind when we need an entity to provide us with crucial real-time news. There just isn't a third choice (I guess you could count NPR as a third choice but they have significant limits too). So, what gets delivered to us, is absolutely stunning hi-def images, with very questionable accuracy and a paucity of useful information. A lot of it is contradictory between news sources and even on single news source. Technology is making things much better, however; although websites go down when they are inundated with traffic, there still is more info available now than there would have been even 5 years ago.

We Are In Good Shape

We have been inconvenienced and there have been some unpleasantries but, overall, it has not been too bad for us. We have enjoyed hanging out with our family and friends. It is reassuring to know that we have somewhere to go and people who will welcome us in times of crisis. We thank everyone that has made us feel so welcome and everyone who has emailed and called to make sure we are alright and to offer assistance in various ways. There is no need for concern at this point. Even if our house, and its contents, is gone (it is probably fine), we are in a good position to move forward. Our physical health is good. Our mental health is not bad either. And we have a network of people that is very supportive.

Thanks
Thank you to our family and friends who put us up (and up with us). Thank you to everyone that has offered us a place to stay and to our families outside of California who have offered (in some cases demanded) to fly us out of here and to support us in any way necessary. And thanks for your expressions of love and support. All is much appreciated.