Home Again

Yesterday at about 3:30, they lifted the evacuation for our area. We waited around a while to watch the news. I was concerned that if the active burns were still near our house, the shifting winds could bring the fires back on us. I was also afraid that the air quality would still be too bad to be healthy. After a while, an updated map was put on the air, and we felt comfortable coming home.

We got here at about 6:15 last night. Our neighborhood is fine. We (so far) never even lost power. There are people who lost everything--and we didn't even have a gallon of milk spoil. I am having some guilt over that. When they had the Scripps Ranch fires here (4 years ago--TODAY) over 2200 homes burned. And yet, there were some neighborhoods where al thehouses would burn to the ground--and one would be left untouched. Apparently, some of those people had a really hard time dealing with the guilt and loneliness caused by being the only ones to not be burned out. I can only imagine how they felt, because I feel so guilty and my neighbors are all ok!!

The city and county (and state and federal) agencies have done an amazing job. The organization of the evacuations, the shelters, the response plans, everything is so well done. I am furious with the lieutenant governor who said on national TV that the reason the fires weren't out the first night is because the California National Guard is deployed. The DAY BEFORE HE SAID THAT the commander of the National Guard gave a press conference and gave the true numbers. California has 20,000 national guard troops. 3,000 of them are deployed. That leaves 17,000. Additionally, when they planned the deployments, they knew it would be fire season, so they didn't deploy the firefighters.

The fires weren't out the first night because the air assets couldn't be used because of the winds. No one's planes or helicopters could fly. Not the city, not the county, not the military, not NASA. I suppose God could have flown a plane, but at this time in history, God personally doesn't generally use industrial technology.

I wish people would educate themselves before making moronic statements. Apparently, people don't understand that the military can't just "step in." They (the national guard) have to be mobilized by the governor and the active duty troops have to be requested. It's called posse comitatus. Here's Wikipedia's explanation:

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on June 16, 1878 after the end of Reconstruction. The Act was intended to prohibit Federal troops from supervising elections in former Confederate states. It generally prohibits Federal military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially limit the powers of the Federal government to use the military for law enforcement.

So--THEN--someone asked "Why didn't the governor just mobilize all of them then?" Well, moron--what would we do if there was an emergency 2 weeks from now? And all of our National Guard troops were otherwise engaged? The fact is, San Diego city and county know what they are doing. They have a plan. They practiced it. They knew what assistance they needed and they've gotten it. THEY ARE HANDLING IT.

Another issue: People keep comparing the to Katrina. Here are the differences as I see them: 1. The city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana sat back and said "Why isn't anyone taking care of us?" (Meaning the federal government and FEMA) The city of San Diego stood up and said "We're going to take care of ourselves."
2. New Orleans waited 'til the last minute and said "Everybody get out. We don't know how. Just go." San Diego evacuated people early and conservatively, so that there was little strain on the traffic flow, and everyone's nerves.
3. New Orleans is something like 11 feet below sea level. They knew that a hurricane was going to happen eventually. They didn't bother to plan for it. San Diego is in the middle of wildfire country. They knew it would happen eventually. They had a fabulous plan.

There are some differences tha tmade Katrina harder to deal with than the fires. Here, our shelters are out of harm's way. Once you get to them, the power works, the water is running, etc. So, the conditions are better. It is also easier to donate supplies, because you can drive straight to Qualcomm and drop off a sleeping bag or whatever. And, they can use the parking lot as a staging area. There was so much water standing in New Orleans, that you couldn't get to the stadium.

But, the lack of coordination inside New Orleans' stadium was shameful. We have National Guard soldiers patrolling--very visably--so no one gets any funny ideas. They have the box suites set up for elderly and people with disabilities. They have food service areas (even one for kosher food!) and playrooms for kids. They are helping people set up tents or blanket "forts" like my kids make, just to give them some privacy in the big open areas.

I'm also amazed by the spirit of the people here. Everyone is staying calm and focused. People are calling in to TV and radio stations and offering their farms for evacuation of animals or even just their guestrooms for people to stay in! I wish it didn't take a tragedy to bring out the best in people. This has really given me a boost in my belief in the human race. . .I wish it would last. But, I anticipate that as this goes on, someone--whether in San Diego or the national arena, maybe politicians, maybe news media--someone is going to dig and dig and find a bad spin. It is really disgusting.

I'm going to stop this ranting post, and start a new one that is more about our family. I have a picture of the boys in their masks. . .I just have to find the camera!