The Climate Thread

[janea4old]

These were published in January 2025 but could be timeless:

Use this info to prepare yourself for current urgent fires,
or for the next climate emergency in your region
(it's written for California fires but could be adapted for whatever/wherever).
How to pack a "go-bag".  What do do when evacuating. Etc.

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Cheat sheet: Your very short guide to getting packed up right now to evacuate
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/fire-go-bag-cheat-sheet
 

Go-Bag basics

• Three-day supply of non-perishable food and three gallons of water per person
• Map marked with at least two evacuation routes
• Prescriptions or special medications
• Change of clothing
• Extra eyeglasses or contact lenses
• An extra set of car keys, credit cards, cash or traveler's checks
• First aid kit
• Flashlight
• Battery-powered radio and extra batteries
• Sanitation supplies
• Copies of important documents (birth certificates, passports, etc.)
• Pet food and water

 

Evaluate your risks

Want to take a closer look at some of your potential risks? First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research group, has a new tool called Risk Factor:
https://firststreet.org/?from=riskfactor.com 
 Input your address for data about the risk for fire and flooding in your area. (The website notes, however, that this should not be relied upon for in-the-moment details about "active events.")

 

Sign up for local alerts

Sign up for local alerts. They’re a reliable clearinghouse for up-to-date news, and early warnings.
(research the links for your region)

Be familiar with your reliable local news sources (we do our best here at LAist.com and LAist 89.3 to stay on top of any Southern California fires that lead to evacuations.)

• Bookmark Fire.CA.Gov/Incidents, which gives you an at-a-glance look at blazes in progress. This is especially important if you plan on traveling. 
• ReadyForWildfire.org is your friend to get everything prepped. It guides you through the three critical stages: READY (go bag prepped), SET (the ability to leave at a moment’s notice), GO (get out of there as soon as authorities give the word.) It’s a great starting place on how to prepare your home and family.

 

Preparing to evacuate

Ideally you already have an evacuation plan in place. Ready for Wildfire suggests: “Make sure you know your community’s emergency response plan and have a plan on where to go when it is time to evacuate, and best routes for leaving your location.”

• Experts suggest working closely with neighbors. Be the one who sets up a neighborhood network. Exchange numbers with neighbors, and create a texting loop, to keep each other informed and lend help if necessary. If you work far from home, consider striking up an agreement with a trusted neighbor to evacuate your teenager or pet on your behalf if needed. 
• Next up? Get in the habit of keeping your gas tank nearly full, advises the Red Cross. Sure, it’s a hassle to stop for gas every other day or so. But, in case of an emergency, you'll be able to drive your family hundreds of miles from danger, without stopping for gas. 
• Evacuating also means having a “go bag” together for every member of the family, pets included.
• Designate a corner of a closet or garage for all the gear you’re setting aside, zipped up and ready to be snatched up. If wildfires are on the horizon, you can even pack up your vehicle in advance, and be at the ready to leave. 
• When those basics are done, it’s time to level up: Start thinking about the important paperwork you might need, documents that would be hard to replace.
  • Insurance documents.
  • Bank account numbers.
  • Photos.
  • Passports.
  • The title to your car.
  • The deed to your house.
  • Birth certificates.

  Consider making copies of all these items and saving them to a USB drive — and giving them to a trusted relative on the other side of the country. Then put that drive in the bottom of your go bag. Keep the real copies someplace safe where you could hopefully also grab them and go — but the USB drive will help you replace those valuables if that is not possible.

• Advance planning should ideally include taking a video of everything in your home. Open drawers, closets and everything else.
• All that said, if danger is within striking distance, just take your loved ones and go. Sure, it would be heartbreaking to lose original photos or a PITA to replace passports and other important paperwork, but none of that really matters in the face of fire.

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Cheat sheet: A short guide to giving your home a fighting chance if you need to evacuate
(what to do on the inside and outside before you leave)
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/short-guide-how-to-leave-your-house-if-you-evacuate

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Cheat sheet: Your very short guide to driving in high winds and fire danger
https://laist.com/news/transportation/fire-high-wind-driving-cheat-sheet

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How to be prepared in case of future electric or natural gas outages
or in case of whatever emergencies:

from Southern California Edison:
https://www.sce.com/outage-center/preparing-for-outages

supplies to have on hand, from "Ready L.A. County"
https://ready.lacounty.gov/keep-supplies/

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Preparing for the next set of wildfires or next fire season:
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/wildfire-preparedness-how-to-get-ready-for-next-fire-california-the-big-burn

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Edited January 16 by janea4old

[janea4old]

These were published in January 2025 but could be timeless:

 

How to talk to children about wildfires, evacuations and losing a home

• From laist.com (the website of the NPR Los Angeles radio station)
  https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/how-to-talk-to-children-about-wildfires-evacuations-and-losing-a-home 
   
• From the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  ttps://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/parents_guidelines_for_helping_children_impacted_by_wildfires.pdf

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(re: wildfires) Mental heath info for adults and children, how to seek help:
https://laist.com/news/health/devastating-fires-mental-health-how-to-seek-help
 

Edited January 16 by janea4old

[Contessa Donatella]

https://people.com/bruce-willis-seen-in-public-dementia-diagnosis-la-police-officers-8775698? 

[janea4old]

[janea4old]

Drone video of wildfire devastation in Pacific Palisades /Malibu region, January 2025,
via Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/00000194-6dd5-dbaa-a9be-7fdd1be10000-123

raw video file:
https://tinyurl.com/lapalisa

Edited January 17 by janea4old

[janea4old]

same article, in Spanish
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/palisades-fire-incendio-trabajadoras-domesticas-resursos-ayuda

[janea4old]

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Aerial view of neighborhoods destroyed by the Palisades Fire, January 2025
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

[janea4old]

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Malibu January 2025

Altadena, California, January 2025

[janea4old]

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Palisades fire, January 2025

[Maxim]

I saw a tik tok with a woman who found her sheep survived the fires... and she was brought to tears seeing these innocent little warriors... Who were looking so rough. This video made me weep. I can't bear seeing this like this. Knowing that innocent animals are suffering. THEIR WHOLE WORLD collapsed. 

[janea4old]

Another article about Black families losing homes to the January 2025 Eaton fire in Altadena:
https://www.bet.com/article/7a2tc6/eaton-fire-devastates-altadena-leaving-black-families-among-the-forgotten-victims

Edited January 18 by janea4old

[janea4old]

There have been tons of news stories about celebrities who evacuated or lost homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu-- in the January 2025 Palisades Fire.

Personally, I intentionally chose to *not* post about celebrities on this CLIMATE thread.

Instead, the focus of my posts on pages 3 and 4 of this Climate thread has been about how weather/climate disasters affect the ordinary person and how it affects Nature -- 
environmentally, politically, emotionally, and economically.

This article is about the community of Pacific Palisades.  Although yes some wealthy celebrities lived there, there are plenty of ordinary people who live/lived there.  Many ordinary people lost their homes in the Palisades fire, and will not be able to afford to rebuild.
This article is about that:
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/pacific-palisades-not-wealthy-fire

Edited January 18 by janea4old

[janea4old]

Noted that the ordinary people (and their parents/grandparents) bought their homes in Pacific Palisades long ago, decades before the neighborhoods became rated for the weathy residents, so now everything costs exponentially more.

[janea4old]

If your home survives the wildfire:
How to safely clean up the ash that rained upon it:
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/los-angeles-wildfire-ash-cleaning-guide-eaton-palisades-pasadena-altadena

What happens after a wildfire destroys your home?
Tips from a survivor of the 2017 Tubbs fire in Northern California
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/after-a-wildfire-survivor-tips

[janea4old]

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