It’s hard to describe when you see fire heading toward you. When your Uncle Dave lived in Reno, a brush fire in the foothills that streamed along the foothills for miles came within about 500 feet of my house. I was living in San Raphael (just north of San Francisco) on the Bay when the Oakland Hills fire occurred. At it’s worst, there were some alarmists who really thought it could burn around the Bay. No alarmists needed for what’s happening in So. California now. Their world is burning.
As for FEMA, I’ll believe it when I see it.
With Katrina Fresh, Bush Moves Briskly
It was not quite 2:30 a.m. in Washington on Tuesday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California asked President Bush to declare an emergency because of the wildfires raging in his state. An hour or so later, the request — pre-approved by Mr. Bush before he left the Oval Office on Monday evening — was granted.
By the time most Californians awoke on Tuesday, the Pentagon had sent helicopters and troops to California and the homeland security secretary and head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on their way. By Tuesday evening, the White House announced that Mr. Bush himself would go on Thursday. He canceled a trip to St. Louis, planning to send Vice President Dick Cheney instead.
For a presidency still haunted by memories of Hurricane Katrina, the forceful round-the-clock response was a political no-brainer — the “anti-Katrina,” in the words of Peter Wehner, a former domestic policy adviser to Mr. Bush.
Half a million people evacuated. It’s hard to comprehend that.
500,000 Flee Raging California Wildfires
Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased more than 500,000 people away.
Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that’s not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react _ tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring.
“If it’s this big and blowing with as much wind as it’s got, it’ll go all the way to the ocean before it stops,” said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. “We can save some stuff but we can’t stop it.”
Check out this Google Map that shows where the fires are. And here are a bunch of photos taken by people in the area.
God is sending 500,000 people a message:
Reassess your life. Think about the things that are important.
hint: it ain’t material.
The only surprise is that the 1st comment, this morning, is from an idiot.
Evacuees are up to a million, now.
#2, don’t worry, moss– He hasn’t got to you yet but He will.
Only believe in patriarchal superstitions, eh?
#4, You believe you had a father. Who’s got the patriarchal superstition?
Don’t white people live in those areas? That is probably FEMA’s demarcation…
#6 I live in Chula Vista and the is NOT white man’s country you idiot. Your insufferable insolence is entirely un-called for. Did you ever have compassion? How about shame? You really should feel shame after a comment like that nut that would be predicated on having a soul.
Sparky
#5 – ah, yes – spooky little twerps often bow their heads to parthenogenesis, as well.
Meanwhile, fires rage, peoples’ lives are destroyed – and the ignorant pray for relief. Do a rain dance, dude.
#8, dude, ALL creation comes from destruction. You can’t have one without the other.
Yes, people’s ‘lives’ were destroyed but they have now the opportunity to recreate it.
The only rain dance I do is the one inside the FIRE.
Ok, to the topic at hand…
An hour or so later, the request — pre-approved by Mr. Bush before he left the Oval Office on Monday evening — was granted.
This is the part I don’t get – with all of the other executive branch powers being abused by Dubyah (the Great, Esq.), why did he have to authorize a pre-approval then wait for the ‘call for help’?
7,
Soul? What’s a soul? Is that what black people have? And a double negative makes a positive, so be careful.
BTW, I feel complete cynicism when I hear the word FEMA. Surprised about that?
Hmmm…they respond to Southern California, but not the poorest parts of Louisiana? Can’t imagine why anyone would suspect that their motives are anything other than….awwww….never mind, this is just too easy.
12, were you going to say democratic or republican governors?
#10, 12 – FEMA has no authority to go in until asked by the state and or local gov’t. Blanco and Nagin were to stupids to ask in a timely manner.
Why FEMA is reacting so quickly? BECAUSE THE HOUSES OF RICH PEOPLE ARE BEING DESTROYED.
#9
Religion is to society as masturbation is to sex.
I wonder how long it will take the loony left to blame Bush for this one? After all everything that has ever happen, that has ever been bad, must be Bush’s fault right?
Now, if the majority of the population in SoCal was black…
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. The partisan politics will spin a local government snafu in New Orleans as his fault as well as him “rushing” out to California for PR.
Speaking of the “failures” of Bush, I wonder why the mainstream media hasn’t been picking up more on the positive news the Washington Post and ABC News have had concerning Iraq lately.
I don’t think the half million people who are wondering if they will have houses to go back to care what motivated Bush. They just need help and are apparently getting it.
I don’t think FEMA’s problem was racism, it is latitudism. Poor southerners deserve little attention.
It’s not acceptable to make fun of the way black or chinese people talk, but it is perfectly acceptable to make fun of a southerners dialect. It’s not okay to call someone a chink, spick, or wetback but every day someone you might know uses the term redneck without any awkward glance from his peers. It’s pervasive in pop culture, art and entertainment; it’s completely acceptable in the 21st century to make fun of stupid redneck southerners. And it’s more than a joke, it’s a open window into how people really think.
You’re all guilty of it and you know it; same as FEMA; quit pretending.
#21, Mathew,
What the hell you whining about? Why not write a book, I’m sure you will find someone to accept it as gospel.
*
FEMA is making a stronger effort in SoCal simply because of all the screw-ups from Katrina. I think most of them learned their lessons.
I am sure that this has nothing to do with Global Warming. At least, that is what the oil corporations keep telling us via the media.
Ah, Global Warming. Droughts in Georgia, Hurricanes in Louisiana, Wildfires in California . . . and that’s just what has been on the news recently.
I can’t believe it took so long for some one to blame global warming. Everything is the fault of global warming.
Angel is right though, FEMA and Bush responded slowly to the plight of poor black folk, but looks like they’ll move quick for the predominately rich white ones.
Also right with the religion quote, here’s a few more
Religion is the opiate of the masses (Mao)
Religion is the refuge of the weak mind
Only sinners go to church.
I wonder if all those rules requiring no building of roads in national forests, and not clearing out underbrush regularly, could these have had an effect here?
#22 So you’re trying to prove his point? I like where this thread is going.
Let’s declare on the evildoers. how about death on site for arsonists, or maybe drop them in the Amazon rainforest so they can enjoy the environment straight up.
#23 – The media covers whatever it thinks will sell advertising. That’s really the only significant guideline for what is and isn’t covered. The media could make the hurricane damage, wildfires, or Irag “disappear” tomorrow if it wanted.
Why is it that race has to be injected in everything here? Why is that country so race and color conscious? It is time for us to grow up as a mature,sensible and sensitive group of people and analyze things as they are without necessarily injecting race into the process.