lil ocean dad

Haven’t seen much of this on Tumblr at all so…

Northern California is currently being ravaged by massive wildfires.

They started late Sunday night-early Monday morning during a large windstorm.  This time of year Northern CA experiences a weather phenomenon called the “Diablo Winds” - sudden, fast-blowing, warm dry wind that comes in from the northeast. The winds have been associated with past devastating firestorms, like the 1991 Oakland Firestorm and the 1923 Berkeley Fire.

While the cause is still under investigation, it’s quite likely that high winds toppled power lines, which sparked multiple fires simultaneously. The winds then fed the fires, causing them to race through the North Bay hills into residential areas.

Because the fires started in the middle of the night, many people were caught completely off-guard. Some literally only had minutes to evacuate, and therefore left with next to nothing.

Here’s what the fires looked like earlier this week when they began:

What makes these fires so devastating is that they are burning in fairly well-populated, residential areas.

This is the Coffey Park neighborhood in the city of Santa Rosa:

And here is is after the fire:

At least 29 people are confirmed dead, hundreds are still missing or unaccounted for (though officials are hoping most are at shelters, cell service has been out since Monday), and hundreds more have been injured. There are still hot spots everywhere, and the air quality in the Bay Area has been awful since Monday.

The wine industry has also been devastated. Some people may scoff at this, but understand that this entire area is based around farming, tourism, and hospitality. Thousands of people are losing both their homes AND their sources of income, including many immigrant workers who are the backbone of these vineyards.

Not only that, there are many retired/elderly folks that live in these areas who now have nothing. Some of them do not own cell phones, so loved ones have no way of getting in touch with them.

While I don’t live in the North Bay myself, it’s sort of like my metaphorical backyard. I know of people who live and work there who have lost their homes, or don’t know what will happen to them in the coming days. I make several visits to these areas a few times a year, and to see these familiar businesses and towns scorched to nothing is utterly heartbreaking.

Here’s a list of ways you can help the relief efforts, both in or outside of the Bay Area

References and links for info and images: [x] [x] [x]

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