[NSXR]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

This question gets asked after every disaster anywhere in the country. Why do people live below sea level in New Orleans?
Why do people live in the Tornado belt?
Why do people live in hurricane-prone areas?
Why do people live in the desert with severe water dependencies?
Why do people live in earthquake zones?
Etc

It gets asked because it makes no sense to live in a place that's prone to natural disasters after such a disaster has touched you personally.

I would move, end of story.

Of course, I wouldn't live there in the first place.

I get why people stay, but it certainly doesn't make any good sense to do so.

[floridaorange]

This is a good read from 2018 -

https://longreads.com/2018/12/04/the...g-malibu-burn/

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Irony of irony's...
The NFL moved the Rams game to Glendale, AZ because of the optics of having a sporting event in the midst of this tragedy (the fires don't affect the stadium).

Not optics, but an impossibility of accommodating tens of thousands of folks for the game or teams practicing in LA ache cloud in the midst of a natural disaster.

BTW, kudo's to NFL and LA Rams for paying tribute to the victims of the fire, and fund raising for them during the game.
Rams wearing LAFD jerseys on sidelines was a pretty classy move.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by NSXR

It gets asked because it makes no sense to live in a place that's prone to natural disasters after such a disaster has touched you personally.

I would move, end of story.

Of course, I wouldn't live there in the first place.

I get why people stay, but it certainly doesn't make any good sense to do so.

Pick your natural disaster; I’m not aware of any place on the planet that is immune to them.

I would modify your statement to say it makes no sense to live in a place subject to natural disasters where the government routinely fails to take measures to minimize the effects of them, including zoning, building codes, forest management, etc.

We can’t prevent a large earthquake but we can protect most buildings/people from them, for example.

Houses in the tornado belt typically have basements or storm shelters

Hurricane building codes are much improved in my lifetime, as are related flood mitigations.

[2000cs]

In the LA area, I’ve been very impressed by the work of Chef Andrew Gruel (can find him on X). Cooking, organizing and delivering supplies, tireless. Wish we had someone working like that for the hurricane victims in W. NC

[NSXR]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Pick your natural disaster; I’m not aware of any place on the planet that is immune to them.

Certainly all places have the possibility of natural disasters, but it's pretty easy to see that some places are worse than others. If you're going to move to Florida, don't get upset about hurricanes. If you're going to move to Kansas or Oklahoma, don't say a word about tornadoes. If you're moving to New Orleans you better bring your waders. Not too difficult to see. Beyond that, if you're moving to a place that has already been decimated by a natural disaster in the past then you've got no room to talk. Here's what led me to a heart attack, let me just keep doing that and see what happens. No thanks.

[spazzyfry123]

So… where do you live?

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

So… where do you live?

I don’t think the question was directed at me, but here’s where I’ve lived:
SoCal during wildfires, mudslides and earthquakes
Oregon (one severe storm, major week-long ice storm, but also earthquake risk there)
Kansas (tornado one block away)
Dallas, Tx (tornado, hail, ice)
New Hampshire (severe cold, nor’easter, had a small earthquake when I lived there)
Tennessee (tornados when I was in Memphis, also hurricane Camille brought a pretty strong storm up the Mississippi; in the eastern part of the state it is pretty low risk but there are ice storms, wind storms and some risk from the New Madrid fault)
Michigan (tornado came at the RenCen when I worked in it, blackout (arguably not natural), strong wind and snow storms, occasional ice)
Kentucky (ice storms and tornado risk)
Florida (two hurricanes)

With the exception of California, these locations are all well equipped to deal with the natural disasters that occur most often there.

There are a lot of factors that go into where to live, including proximity to family, taxes, job location, safety and weather risk. As to choosing a house, I prefer that they be built to newer building codes, especially where wind and earthquakes are the big risks. A better fire code (reduce flammability of roofs and walls) would be a good idea in California.

[Lady Jane]

Looking at the drone videos of the devastation, many of those clips reminded me of historical pictures of Hiroshima albeit on a much smaller scale. It didn't take the Japanese people too many years to rebuild and look at it today. Hopefully Californians will be able to do the same with the same resilience. And God bless the first responders and volunteers.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

... A better fire code (reduce flammability of roofs and walls) would be a good idea in California.

They already banned wood shake roofs many moons ago. Forest management would go a long way in preventing these fires. Then again, there's mounting evidence of arson...

[Esteban]

Here is a good article about the Palisades Fire.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/u...oint-site.html

[Gemini562]

Truly, disaster capitalism and opportunistic crime at their finest!

https://nypost.com/2025/01/14/busine...4-amid-fires/?



https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/new...la-wildfires/?

[floridaorange]

“Paradise” - should have been the last necessary wake up call.

[UncleWede]

There seems to be a lot of blame placed on the gubmint not doing stuff. But if you look at the Getty Villa, they maintained their own brush clearance around the property, and it's still standing.
Twice a year I pay a guy (because I can't breathe moving from 0-7000') to clear the cabin surroundings, as my personal little fire break. If not done, and the county fire comes up, THEY will hire someone to clear your brush and send you the bill.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Pick your natural disaster; I’m not aware of any place on the planet that is immune to them.

Indeed.
I can't think of ANY place in the continental US that is not exposed to some risk from one form of a natural disaster or another.
Except, possibly, for the frozen Mid-West (never mind, they get flooding), where few want to live anyway.

Originally Posted by 2000cs

I would modify your statement to say it makes no sense to live in a place subject to natural disasters where the government routinely fails to take measures to minimize the effects of them

Why blame the government?
I though this was a free country where anyone can choose to live where they want.

If someone wants to live in a floodplain, or down the tornado corridor, or along the coasts exposed to hurricanes and earthquakes, or at the foot hills of the mountains eposed to fire, then so be it. It is NOT government's job to tell people where to live and work! Nor is it government's job to tame the nature (good luck with that)!

The cost of making houses flood + torando + earthquake + fire proof would price majority of the population out of home ownership, and turn houses into bunkers.
Alternatively, we build and live in semi-disposable cheap-o houses covered by relatively expensive insurance.

As long as you can evacuate safely in advance of a natural diaster (pretty much all of them, maybe minus earthquakes), you can always rebuild/resettle later.

I think we are way over-politicizing the response to the current set of SoCal fires (there were many in years prior, there will be many in the future).
Few bother telling Floridians to abandon the pinensula because of annual hurricane exposure, or Oklahomans because of annual tornado season. That would be silly, right?

a

[afadeev]

Thought this was interesting and insightful from a home builder on how to build for fire-proofing:

[sygazelle]

I've read through this thread and learned some things. Thanks to all for posting and sharing what you know about this tragedy.

One of the topics discussed revolves around "why live in an area where there such risk?" or "why rebuild knowing the risk is still there?". I hesitate to jump into this already dynamic conversation, but I sort of can't help myself.

First, my sympathy goes to those directly affected by the fire who lost homes, family treasures, and in a few cases, their lives. This was a tragedy of epic proportion.

Next, I won't comment on who's to blame or lack of preparedness, or try to politicize this in any way. There is already a lot of discussion and I am certain that I couldn't add any value.

I only want to address topic about why do people live in fire disaster-prone Southern California and rebuild there even after a disaster. For those who live out of state, I can imagine such a question being asked. As tragic as this fire was, if you look at the numbers, a very small percentage of Southern Californians were directly impacted by this fire. This point is simply about the probability of this disaster happening a given Southern California resident. There's probably not a single community that is immune from fire danger. By the numbers, Southern California has 25 million population and the 11th largest GDP in the world if were it's own country. For sake of probability only and NOT diminishing the impact on those directly affected, only 170,000 out of 25,000,000 were evacuated or 0.68%. The percentage of those who evacuated who actually lost their home is far less and the number is probably not known at this time. The news reports made some people believe that the entire state was on fire. I had family from Switzerland contact me to ask if were were okay and we are 400 miles from the fire!

So, addressing only the question about why do people live there if it's so prone to fire? 99%+ were not affected and it's home to them. I think that's why. I'm sure some who lost their home will decide to move somewhere else, but for many people, including me when I lived there, Southern California is an amazing place to live and would rebuild in a heartbeat if able as opposed to moving out of state.

[floridaorange]

68% contained in Palisades, but I hear fires are popping up in North County SD now?

https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/v...01c96e907a1fc3

[Gemini562]

The Hughes Fire just started near Castaic this morning！ It feels like this is never gonna end!！

https://nypost.com/2025/01/22/us-new...-expert-warns/

[UncleWede]

The Hughes fire spread smoke and ash all over us yesterday, and it's 50 miles away!

3 local fires broke out over night within a 10 mile radius.

Manure pile down the street ignited in wind and burned stable/sheds.

That devil wind is blowing hard today!

[Gemini562]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

The Hughes fire spread smoke and ash all over us yesterday, and it's 50 miles away!

3 local fires broke out over night within a 10 mile radius.

Manure pile down the street ignited in wind and burned stable/sheds.

That devil wind is blowing hard today!

What’s the AQI like in your area right now?

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Gemini562

What’s the AQI like in your area right now?

Devil wind blew all the smoke away pretty quick last night. Ashes are now all tucked into corners. Wondering what the potential weekend rain is going to smell like.