Still some 650+ people missing.
Calistoga looks like they are going to be wiped out as the winds are picking up, there is way too much fuel on the hills and no rain anywhere in any forecast. Shame. Calistoga is pretty country. Here is hoping people heed the warning and get the fuck out before they get stuck.
I've been thinking about trying to visit areas like this to help spend dollars there as they rebuild. Not now, obviously, but in the next few months. Does anyone know if that helps?
The issue is that the people living in these communities have zero. nothing. nada. zilch. This type of firestorm rolls through and vaporizes the water in the concrete in the foundations and sidewalks. Anything less than 4-5 feet underground is melted. Basic infrastructure is nonexistent. manhole covers melt. My Uncle was a lucky winner in one of these fires a decade or so back. He rebuilt, but one of the things you don't think about is that the heat from the fire sterilizes the ground and they have to roll in "live" dirt else nothing grows for a few years. They had to dig out the streets and replace the water and power lines. They had to redo the roadways as the asphalt changed chemically into a weird glassy substance that had sharp ripples in it. They had to fix sidewalks. Cars MELTED and rivers of molten metal had to be dealt with! At least it looks like Calistoga is not going to be wiped out like they feared. Something like 10 wineries are simply gone. The pictures of the Santa Rosa area are not showing the scale from what I've seen with my own eyes in events like this. The fire was most likely a mile wide and left NOTHING in its wake. Next year the rebuilding will be in full swing, and that is assuming they can get the skilled labour up there, what with Irma, Maria, Harvey and the earthquakes in Mexico. All those areas need skilled labour as well. Now is a great time to go into construction, plumbing, electrical, drywall if you know people who need jobs and are willing to learn. Going there to help the economy sounds good on the surface. But think about all the work that needs to be done, the massive influx of people to rebuild and the cash going out for things like infrastructure repair, plywood etc. It is going to be winter in three months, which is wet in that part of the state. So next on the list is mudslide season. Expect articles in a few months about how mudslides are hindering the recovery. hell, it is going to take months to just get the insurance appraisals. (My Uncle did not have any relief from any insurance for something like two months. Only so many appraisers, places to stay while rebuilding etc.) It is going to be a year, if they get a series of very luck breaks, before they can go full on tourist again. And that is if they can knock down the fires before the end of the month.
Thanks, that's the kind of feedback I was looking for. It makes sense now reading your explanation. This isn't one business burning down and then making an effort to patronize them. It's an entire region.
Yea, it sucks. There are people talking about "disaster relief tourism" for Puerto Rico, an island that as of right now has only restored 9% of the power grid. It's a lovely idea, and on paper a great way to get the economy unfrozen, but the magnitude of what the destruction did to a modern society is simply too big to really comprehend. For the record, my uncle did not fully move back into his house for almost five years. He had to fight the insurance to pay full replacement on his cars, he had to produce a ton of records on income and expenses (most of his paperwork was in the house after all) and It took 6 months to get the insurance appraisals and then another 4-6 months to get payouts and FEMA help. Then it took the city almost a year to repair the roads, water, electrical to the point where they could offer building permits. This was in the city of San Diego proper where the city put a committee together and expedited everything.