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3 things the U.S. can do to stop coronavirus

Fri, 2020-07-10 13:50 — mike kraft
3 things the U.S. can do to stop coronavirus What strategies have been shown to work, but that the U.S. has not adopted on a wide scale? Public health experts say these tactics could still make a difference in saving lives. PBS NewsHour

 

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500,000 in California Are Without Electricity in Planned Shutdown

Thu, 2019-10-10 08:04 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

A map on the website of Pacific Gas & Electric showing locations impacted by the blackout on Wednesday morning. The purple icons represent areas where the power was shut off preemptively.  Credit pgecurrents.com

CLICK HERE - PG&E - Outage Map

Pacific Gas & Electric is cutting electricity as a precaution against sparking wildfires in high-wind conditions.

nytimes.com - by Thomas Fuller - October 9, 2019

A deliberate power outage that spanned large parts of Northern California on Wednesday sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for gasoline and other essentials as strong, gusty winds and months of dry weather put the state on alert for wildfires.

The state’s largest power utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, said it had cut power to 500,000 customers soon after midnight. A second round of cuts affecting 250,000 more customers in the hills surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area had been scheduled for noon but was delayed. . . .

 . . . Once the two phases are complete, around 2.5 million people will be without electricity, according to one estimate.

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California Wildfires - 2018

Sat, 2018-11-24 13:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

AN EXPANDING LIST OF NEWS AND INFORMATION RESOURCES RELATED TO CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES - 2018 . . .

CLICK HERE - Butte County Recovers - The official website for Camp Fire response and recovery.

CLICK HERE - Butte County - Camp Fire Information

CLICK HERE - FEMA - California Wildfires (DR-4407)

CLICK HERE - FEMA - Disasters - California

CLICK HERE - FEMA - Butte County, California - Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA)

CLICK HERE - Facebook - FEMA Disaster Recovery Center - Local Assistance Centers

CLICK HERE - Butte County - Behavioral Health - Camp Fire Incident Information

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Evacuation Plan 'Out the Window' When Fire Hit California Town

Mon, 2018-11-19 08:43 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

A building destroyed by the Camp Fire is seen in Paradise, California, U.S., November 13, 2018. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

reuters.com - by Andrew Hay - November 17, 2018

When a “megafire” engulfed Paradise, California, officials and residents had to abandon their evacuation plans and improvise new ways to save lives, learning lessons that could help the growing number of U.S. communities at risk to wildfires.

As strong winds sent flames roaring into Paradise at 2 miles per minute, emergency personnel and locals realized their escape plans, crafted after a 2008 blaze, would not work.

“The lessons we had learned in the past kind of went out of the window due to the sheer speed and intensity of this fire,” Paradise Emergency Operations Coordinator Jim Broshears said in a phone interview.

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California Wildfires Are A Bigger Public Health Nightmare Than Anyone Imagined

Sat, 2018-11-17 08:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

East Avenue Church Shelter in Chico, California, where norovirus has spread and makeshift quarantine barriers have been erected.  Photo: Cayce Clifford

Even people nearly 200 miles from the flames are suffering the consequences of the massive Camp fire.

huffingtonpost.com - by Antonia Blumberg and Lydia O’Connor - November 16, 2018

Skies so hazy that the Golden Gate Bridge looks like a shadow of itself. A fire so devastating that hundreds of people remain unaccounted for. Air so polluted that people without safety masks are trapped inside. A quarantine set up by the National Guard to limit the spread of a dangerous virus.

This is not the climactic scene of an apocalyptic horror movie, set far in the future. This is California in 2018.

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Woolsey Fire Burns Nuclear Meltdown Site that State Toxics Agency Failed to Clean Up

Mon, 2018-11-12 18:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                                         

psr-la.org - November 9, 2018

THE SANTA SUSANA FIELD LABORATORY (ROCKETDYNE) BURNED IN THE WOOLSEY FIRE, THREATENING TOXIC EXPOSURES FROM CONTAMINATED DUST, SMOKE, ASH AND SOIL. THE DEPARTMENT OF TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL DENIES RISK THAT IT CREATED BY DELAYING THE LONG PROMISED CLEANUP.

Last night, the Woolsey fire burned the contaminated Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), a former nuclear and rocket engine testing site. Footage from local television showed flames surrounding rocket test stands, and the fire’s progress through to Oak Park indicates that much of the toxic site burned.

A statement released by the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) said that its staff, “do not believe the fire has caused any releases of hazardous materials that would pose a risk to people exposed to the smoke.” The statement failed to assuage community concerns given DTSC’s longtime pattern of misinformation about SSFL’s contamination and its repeated broken promises to clean it up.

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Entire California Town Destroyed; Tens of Thousands Flee in Los Angeles, Ventura Counties

Fri, 2018-11-09 08:43 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

Entire Town Destroyed by Wildfire, People Literally Ran from Flames In Paradise, CA, thousands of structures are destroyed and an entire town is devastated after a the Camp Fire exploded in size on Thursday.

weather.com - by Pam Wright - November 9, 2018

Fast-moving wildfires prompted tens of thousands of evacuations in both Northern and Southern California, including 75,000 in and around Los Angeles, sending residents fleeing for their lives on short notice.

The largest inferno, sparked Thursday morning in Northern California, prompted numerous evacuations, including several entire towns. The Butte County Sheriff's Office told the Associated Press that a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the entire town of Paradise, which is home to about 27,000 people and is north of Sacramento.

"Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it's that kind of devastation," said Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean late Thursday. "The wind that was predicted came and just wiped it out."

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Hurricane Lane - News and Information Resources

Thu, 2018-08-23 09:23 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           AN EXPANDING LIST OF NEWS AND INFORMATION RESOURCES RELATED TO HURRICANE LANE . . .

CLICK HERE - One Year After Harvey's Record Rain, Hurricane Lane Sets Preliminary Hawaii Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Record

CLICK HERE - NWS - Central Pacific Hurricane Center - Lane Products

CLICK HERE - The Weather Channel - Hurricane Central - Hurricane Lane

CLICK HERE - USGS - Current Conditions for Hawaii: Precipitation

CLICK HERE - Here Are the Shelters Open in Hawaii As It Prepares for Hurricane Lane

CLICK HERE - Oahu - List of Evacuation Shelters (1 page .PDF file)

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More Than 100 Large Wildfires in US as Six New Blazes Erupt

Mon, 2018-08-13 08:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

A helicopter drops water to a brush fire at the Holy Fire in Lake Elsinore, California, on Saturday. Photograph: Ringo Chiu/AFP/Getty Images

The fires have scorched states from Washington to New Mexico, with California among the hardest hit

theguardian.com - August 12, 2018

Six large new wildfires erupted in the United States, pushing the number of major active blazes nationwide to over 100, with more expected to break out sparked by lightning strikes on bone-dry terrain, authorities said on Saturday.

More than 30,000 personnel, including firefighters from across the United States and nearly 140 from Australia and New Zealand, were battling the blazes that have consumed more than 1.6m acres (648,000 hectares), according to the National Interagency Coordination Center . . .

 . . . The fires have scorched states from Washington to New Mexico, with California among the hardest hit.

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Cal Fire - California Fire Map - 2018 Statewide Incidents Map

Sun, 2018-07-29 09:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux
Cal Fire - California Fire Map - 2018 Statewide Incidents Map
Major incidents in California in which CAL FIRE is either the lead agency or assisting.
 
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