Socal Wildfires – Waldbrände in Kalifornien
23. Oktober 2007
Wegen der zahlreichen Waldbrände haben mehr als 200 000 Menschen die Flucht ergriffen. Zwischen der mexikanischen Grenze und Santa Barbara wurden Teile des US-Bundesstaates in ein Flammenmeer verwandelt. In sieben Bezirken wurde der Notstand ausgerufen. Gouverneur Arnold Schwarzenegger sprach von einem «tragischen Tag» für Kalifornien. Mindestens ein Mensch kam bislang ums Leben, 17 wurden verletzt. Im Prominentenwohnort Malibu brannten mehrere Häuser völlig aus.
San Diego ist im Norgen und Südosten von grossen Feuern betroffen (Karte). Das bis dato schwerste Feuer in der Geschichte des Bezirks San Diego hatte im Herbst 2003 mehr als 3500 Wohnhäuser und andere Gebäude vernichtet. 17 Menschen kamen damals ums Leben. So wie es jetzt aussieht, ist das aktuelle Feuer weitaus schlimmer!
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS:
The Witch Creek fire burning across northern San Diego County has left a grim toll: 500 homes destroyed and 250 damaged; 100 commercial buildings destroyed and 75 damaged; 50 outbuildings destroyed and 50 more damaged. At least 145,000 acres have burned, authorities said Monday. “It’s going to get worse. It’s probably the worst fire this county has ever had, well worse than the Cedar fire,” Sheriff Bill Kolender said in a news conference.
- Bluewin: Hunderttausende fliehen vor Waldbränden in Kalifornien
- Sport1.at: Waldbrände bedrohen NFL-Stars (San Diego Chargers)
- Welt Online: Feuer treibt auch Mel Gibson in die Flucht
- Focus Online: Massenflucht vor dem Flammeninferno
- SignonSanDiego: Witch Creek fire’s toll so far: 750 homes destroyed or damaged (engl.)
- NBC San Diego: Livestream (engl.)
- Radio Kogo San Diego: Hundreds of Homes Destroyed, Thousands Evacuated (engl.)
- Yahoo: 350,000 homes evacuated in Calif. fires (engl.)
- San Diego Wildfires Map (engl.)
- Interactive Wildfires Map (engl.)
- Map of the Southern California fires (engl.)
- Breaking news from SignOnSanDiego and The San Diego Union-Tribune
blogstone
Thanks for thinking of us. It is a mess, isn’t it? I called Heather yesterday morning at 6:30 a.m. because I was watching the news and learned she was in an area that was being asked to evacuate. Sometimes it is good to be a morning person. 🙂 Her family grabbed what they could and drove down here, so they are safe. Last night the fire near her (the Witch Creek fire) burned closer to the coast but stayed north of where she lives, so we are optimistic that her home will be safe. The Santa Ana wind is still blowing strongly from the desert, but we are starting to see wind also coming back from off the coast. Firefighters cannot do much until the wind changes.
Today is the first day that some helicopters and fixed-wing planes can help drop water and fire retardant on the fires. I believe they are working on the fires down by the border right now — still too much smoke up north. My pool has a lot of ashes in it, and the air smells very smokey, but I am not in any danger. We are all being asked to stay off the highways, not to go to work unless we have to, to conserve water and electricity, etc.
We are all glued to our televisions, but we are safe. So many others are not. More than 300,000 people have been evacuated. Many horses have been rescued and are being cared for at the Del Mar Race Track. Other rescue centers are allowing people to bring their pets with them. People are being so kind to each other. It is good to see. Thank you for thinking about us. We really hope the situation will improve after today. Right now, the fires are just burning as they like. Firefighters say „the fire will burn until the wind stops or the fire runs out of fuel.“
Hi Nancy, I’m glad that you and your family are safe. I hope for you, Heather and all others that the situation will improve soon. Thank you for your local information. Let me know about basic changes.
Hello, Stefan and other ICAE friends! Between the Mt. Soledad street collapse and all the wildfires, you must think of San Diego as on its last legs. Here in the Clairemont area where I live, there is smoke and ash in the air but otherwise life is surprisingly normal given what is happening nearby. In the 2003 fires we could feel the heat here as the fire was blowing towards us, but this time the fires are north and south and we aren’t directly in their path. In contrast to the Katrina rescue disgrace, government agencies are doing their job, volunteers are stepping up, and there is no civil disorder. Evacuated people with nowhere else to go are in Qualcomm Stadium, where our football team plays, and the contrast with Katrina is striking (Katrina evacuees were sent to the local football stadium, but no help came for several days). It was obvious that disaster preparedness had improved since the 2003 fires and since Katrina showed the world how dismally the US government could respond to its own citizens when there wasn’t coordination between agencies (and when the US administration didn’t even believe in the need for government help! my own political opinion). Evacuations have been handled very efficiently here, and there hasn’t been any panic that I’ve heard of despite the huge numbers of displaced people–over half a million by the last count I heard. People seem to have learned from the last fires (and from Katrina) and they are pretty much leaving when asked rather than staying in their homes–this leaves the fire fighters free to concentrate on saving houses rather than rescuing stray citizens who have stayed at home.
There have been many heartwarming stories in the news of people opening their homes to each other and bringing supplies to the evacuation centers, which are overflowing with food. Schools have been closed for the week, and people are being asked to stay inside to avoid breathing the ash and smoke.
My personal story–my family is fine, including my 90-year-old mother, two 16-year-old kids, and our two small dogs, and I’m trying to think of ways to help those less fortunate. At a time like this we are called on to pull together… Best from San Diego, Mary
Die Feuer vom Satelliten aus: http://www.wetter-center.de/blog/wp-trackback.php?p=20
[…] – Brände in San Diego Update San Diego Mittwoch, 24. Oktober 2007 Nach meinem Blogeintrag “Socal Wildfires – Waldbrände in Kalifornien” vom 23. Oktober sind nun fast eine Million Menschen auf der Flucht vor der Feuerwalze. […]