Palisades Fire live updates: Wildfires spread in Los Angeles, prompting mandatory evacuations, as Santa Ana winds expected to intensify

[essentialsaltes]

Trump was long on his off-base wildfire stock phrases like "bring the water down" and short on any concrete details.

When Trump says "Release the waters!", the Army Corps of Engineers says "How high?"

"Maximum!"

Trump says he opened California’s water. Local officials say he nearly flooded them.​

The Army Corps of Engineers moved to release massive quantities of water in Central California, panicking local officials.

Local officials had to talk the Army Corps of Engineers down after it abruptly alerted them Thursday afternoon it was about to increase flows from two reservoirs to maximum capacity — a move the agency said was in response to Trump directing the federal government to “maximize” water supplies.

Before the Corps ratcheted down its plan, local authorities scrambled to move equipment and warn farms about possible flooding, said Victor Hernandez, who oversees water management on one of the rivers, the Kaweah in Tulare County. He said the Corps gave him one hour notice on Thursday.

While releasing water from reservoirs before a big storm, like the one expected to hit Northern California this weekend, is standard flood-control procedure to avoid overflowing dams, Hernandez said the Army Corps’ Thursday plan would have released far more water than needed. He said releasing the water at the capacity the Corps had planned to would have flooded both the Kaweah and Tule rivers, where the Corps’ reservoirs are located.

“Channel capacity is very dangerous,” Hernandez said. “People don’t understand that [with] channel capacity, you’re going to have flood damage down below.”

Hernandez said that after he resisted the decision, Fromm told him the Corps would release the water at a third of the original planned speed, rather than at maximum capacity. Aaron Fukuda, the general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, also confirmed the Army Corps reduced flood releases after local officials pushed back.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

President Trump turns it up to 11!

 

[essentialsaltes]

Man agrees to plead guilty to crashing drone into 'Super Scooper' during Palisades Fire in CA​

(I mean, not intentionally, but)

Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors filed an indictment charging Akemann with the misdemeanor offense that carries a prison sentence of up to one year in federal prison, a news release said.

(Akemann is a founder of Treyarch 'Call of Duty' Studios and much closer than 6 degrees of separation from me.)

 

[essentialsaltes]

What trees survived in our terrible fires? And why didn’t they burn? [LA Times Garden columnist]​

Cal Fire recently posted a more reasoned explanation [than conspiracy theories] on Instagram that the fires we saw in Altadena and Pacific Palisades weren’t wildfires, which spread from plant to plant, but “conflagrations” — intense fires propelled by wind that spread from structure to structure, such as from a trellis to a house to a neighbor’s fence to the neighbor’s home.

Certain trees survived, according to Cal Fire, because they have a natural adaptation to withstand fire, such as thick bark, a shape that sheds embers and higher moisture content than the structures that caught fire. “While trees may still be singed, they are often less flammable than structures,” according to the post.

Carruth and his husband, Rob Krueger, lost their East Altadena Drive home of 37 years in the Eaton fire that killed 17 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures. They returned the next morning to get Rob’s car, just in time to see the roof collapse on their 102-year-old home, which was ablaze.

But about 15 feet from the house, their towering deodar cedar was entirely unfazed. If you turn your back to the now ruined house and just look at the front yard, it seems idyllic: a bench under the cedar tree, flower beds dotted with greenery, roses waiting to be pruned and a scattering of violet sky queen iris in full bloom.

Deodar cedars are evergreen conifers native to the Himalayas, in areas between Afghanistan and Tibet, but they also grow happily around many parts of Altadena. The biggest collection is on Santa Rosa Avenue, where about 135 deodar cedars stretch for nearly a mile, supporting the community’s 104-year-old holiday lighting tradition known as Christmas Tree Lane. [And many/most/all? survived]

Kent thinks it also helped that the surviving trees, such as the deodar cedars, were likely more irrigated than trees in the wild, so had a higher moisture content.

Native shrubs such as toyon, lemonade berry and manzanita burned to stumps as the fire swept through Eaton Canyon, said Cristhian Mace, natural areas biologist for Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, “but that doesn’t mean the roots are killed. Those plants evolved in fire habitats and they will come back, I guarantee you.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

I think he had some suggestions on raking forest floors the last time he was in office. Perhaps he'll get around to buy some rakes, now, if his tax cuts for billionaires allow it in the budget.

States can buy their own rakes.

Trump wants states to clean up forests to stop wildfires. But his administration cut off funds​

[Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Acts] included roughly $3 billion for wildfire mitigation efforts, often known as hazardous fuels reduction programs.

 

[BPPLEE]

States can buy their own rakes.

Trump wants states to clean up forests to stop wildfires. But his administration cut off funds​

[Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Acts] included roughly $3 billion for wildfire mitigation efforts, often known as hazardous fuels reduction programs.

I found some money they can use:
Benefits and services provided to illegal aliens in California in 2022 amounted to $22,821,903,942.

 

[durangodawood]

Benefits and services provided to illegal aliens in California in 2022 amounted to $22,821,903,942.

Says who?

 

[BPPLEE]

Says who?

Google

 

[durangodawood]

Google

Sure. That famous investigative reporter named google.

 

[BPPLEE]

Sure. That famous investigative reporter named google.

And the house budget committee
Among FAIR’s key findings:

• Benefits and services provided to illegal aliens in California in 2022 amounted to $22,821,903,942.

DON’T CALIFORNIA MY AMERICA: The Cost of California Policymaking | The U.S. House Committee on the Budget - House Budget Committee

The Official U.S. Congressional website of The Republican Budget Committee

budget.house.gov

 

[durangodawood]

And the house budget committee
Among FAIR’s key findings:

• Benefits and services provided to illegal aliens in California in 2022 amounted to $22,821,903,942.

DON’T CALIFORNIA MY AMERICA: The Cost of California Policymaking | The U.S. House Committee on the Budget - House Budget Committee

The Official U.S. Congressional website of The Republican Budget Committee

budget.house.gov

A partisan committee referencing a issue advocacy group with a massive axe to grind on this issue. I would not trust them one bit.

 

[BPPLEE]

A partisan committee referencing an issue advocacy group with a massive axe to grind on this issue. I would not trust them one bit.

Do you have any sources to dispute them or should we just go by who you trust or not?

Fact Check Team: Exploring the financial impact of illegal immigration across the US

According to new numbers released by the city of New York, taxpayers have spent $308 million on resources for illegal migrants since July 1.

cbsaustin.com

Skyrocketing healthcare budget for illegal immigrants haunts blue state taxpayers

A California budget official revealed this week that taxpayers in the deep blue state are paying billions of dollars more on healthcare for illegal immigrants than previously known.

www.yahoo.com

 

[durangodawood]

Do you have any sources to dispute them or should we just go by who you trust or not?

Fact Check Team: Exploring the financial impact of illegal immigration across the US

According to new numbers released by the city of New York, taxpayers have spent $308 million on resources for illegal migrants since July 1.

cbsaustin.com

Skyrocketing healthcare budget for illegal immigrants haunts blue state taxpayers

A California budget official revealed this week that taxpayers in the deep blue state are paying billions of dollars more on healthcare for illegal immigrants than previously known.

www.yahoo.com

I dont have sources to dispute them. But I also dont have sources to affirm them. So as of now they are just another opinion.

 

[BPPLEE]

I dont have sources to dispute them. But I also dont have sources to affirm them. So as of now they are just another opinion.

That's your opinion

 

[essentialsaltes]

FEMA doubles down on its decision to not test soil as part of wildfire cleanup​

Follow-up soil testing — conducted after every major wildfire in California since 2007 — is intended to ensure that properties are remediated to state standards and don’t still contain dangerous levels of toxic substances.

But now FEMA, the agency responsible for allocating funding and outlining cleanup procedures in the aftermath of wildfires, insists that scraping 6 inches of topsoil from each property is sufficient to protect public health.

Just two years ago, however, FEMA paid for soil testing in the aftermath of the 2023 Maui wildfires. FEMA officials say they ordered testing in Hawaii because they had less historical wildfire data there than they did for California. In the future, they say, they won’t order soil testing after wildfires there and the rest of Region 9 [covering Hawai'i and the Southwest].

What’s more, FEMA’s new stance ignores that during past wildfire responses, soil testing found a significant number of properties still contained unsafe levels of toxic chemicals even after 6 inches of topsoil was removed.

For its part, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing debris removal, says its hands are tied. It is bound to FEMA directives that explicitly rule out testing and prohibit crews from returning to remove more dirt if contamination lingers.

“I’m not comfortable or confident with the Army Corps process,” [dude with burnt up home Kenneth] Ehrlich said. “I’m not comfortable or confident with them taking money from my insurance [<-- interesting] — it’s not transparent and nobody knows how much this is going to cost. And I have no comfort that I’m going to get a clean site at the end.”

 

[RDKirk]

Well, if they can't get insurance, they won't be able to get mortgage loans to rebuild anyway.

 

[essentialsaltes]

When Trump says "Release the waters!", the Army Corps of Engineers says "How high?"
"Maximum!"

Trump says he opened California’s water. Local officials say he nearly flooded them.​

While that botched plan was never going to bring water to SoCal (and may imperil farms that depend on the water), there is one important source of water to SoCal.

Trump funding freeze includes payments to keep the Colorado River flowing​

While some of those funds were earmarked to prop up renewable energy, at least $4 billion was set aside to protect the flow of the Colorado River, which supplies about 40 million people with drinking water, is the foundation for a massive agricultural economy across the Southwest, and generates significant hydroelectric power.

 

[durangodawood]

While that botched plan was never going to bring water to SoCal (and may imperil farms that depend on the water), there is one important source of water to SoCal.

Trump funding freeze includes payments to keep the Colorado River flowing​

While some of those funds were earmarked to prop up renewable energy, at least $4 billion was set aside to protect the flow of the Colorado River, which supplies about 40 million people with drinking water, is the foundation for a massive agricultural economy across the Southwest, and generates significant hydroelectric power.

That man is such a hand waiving idiot, with no patience for understanding complex issues.

 

[essentialsaltes]

That man is such a hand waiving idiot, with no patience for understanding complex issues.

Trump or Musk? Either way, there's no reason to believe either of them even attempted to understand things before stopping programs and firing people.

 

[durangodawood]

Trump or Musk? Either way, there's no reason to believe either of them even attempted to understand things before stopping programs and firing people.

Elon is one of those guys who thinks his real intellect (and wealth) excuses him from knowing things before acting.

Trump knows his supporters will follow him anywhere. That relieves a lot of the need for good judgement.