The California Fires... What will the outcome be?

[Zacha341]

Why were fire breaks not considered or where they?

This time the fires seem north and south....
California residents warned latest high winds could spark new wildfire growth -- live updates

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...000-acres.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/fi...es-2019-10-29/

https://www.sfchronicle.com/californ...s-14573324.php

See below mapping:

http://google.org/crisismap/google.com/2019-getty-fire

[Meddle]

They'll rebuild the same mammoth mansions in the same places, then gripe when they burn again in a few years.

[Johnnny5]

They'll rebuild the same mammoth mansions in the same places, then gripe when they burn again in a few years.

Those days may finally be ending. Not because the homeowners are wising up, but because insurance companies are. There was an article the other day stating that insurance companies are dropping and denying fire coverage in these fire prone areas at a record pace. For those areas that they are still covering, rates are skyrocketing. Without insurance, mortgages will be nearly impossible to obtain and rebuilding in these areas will be very limited.

[Zacha341]

^^^ In the meantime their spend-golli governor seems regularly coiffed, prim and unaffected. His family too!

[rb336]

Those days may finally be ending. Not because the homeowners are wising up, but because insurance companies are.

The same is likely true for building in flood plains. Eventually the Federal government will stop providing insurance support for idiots who like near them. There is already talk of severely restricting the program only to those who cannot afford to move from flood-prone districts.

They are also going to be finalizing new projected flood zone maps, and any new construction within those areas will not be eligible for Federal insurance subsidies - or whatever they call them.

[Jimaz]

One of the fires is threatening the Reagan Presidential Library.

Burn, baby. Burn. No comment.

[Richard]

Those days may finally be ending. Not because the homeowners are wising up, but because insurance companies are. There was an article the other day stating that insurance companies are dropping and denying fire coverage in these fire prone areas at a record pace. For those areas that they are still covering, rates are skyrocketing. Without insurance, mortgages will be nearly impossible to obtain and rebuilding in these areas will be very limited.

The insurance companies in Florida did the same thing,started pulling out when the hurricanes hit Miami.

So the state told them if you want to keep the lucrative auto insurance part you must still sell homeowners.

It did not stop them though,people with State Farm as an example for over 40 years,dropped like a rock with a simple notice of cancellation,leaving little time to shop rates.

When a named storm is present,even still off the coast of Africa all policy writing stops until the storm passes.

So they just jacked the rates up high and the state ended up having an insurer of last resort,basically if the insurance companies would no longer cover you,they would.

On one House I keep a little $300 a month mortgage on and the bank pays the insurance,I had to stop paying the insurance to force them to inact it.

Even with the extra interest charges it is still way cheaper then the $900 just for the insurance I would have been paying.

In California they see to focus on the amount of homes destroyed,people built out from the city because it became to expensive to live in the city,created sprawl in the path of a torch.

It does not seem uncommon to spend 4 hours a day just in transit back and forth to work.

The hardest part with the flooding aspect is our country was built around the river access for transportation,the states borders were mapped out so everybody could take advantage of the waterways,so there are a lot of cities established in the path.

The Midwest bread basket was placed in the flood plain because the soil was rich,because of the floods.

I guess it is based on odds,in 45 years I had one incident of hurricane damage that was major.

Where I grew up north we had 3 houses leveled by tornadoes in 10 years.

Pick your poison,floods,fires,hurricanes,tornadoes,devastati ng snow and ice storms,you cannot run from Mother Nature.

Insurance companies profit from it while we just rebuild in the aftermath,it is what we always have done.

Where are you going to put everybody that you remove from the path of destruction?

A 3 million dollar ocean side house gets wiped out from a hurricane and the next guy comes along and builds a 5 million dollar house,everybody pays the price to carve out what they believe is thier little place in paradise and it is what they call home.

Outside of another 3 mile nuke plant relocation,it is tough to force some to pull up stakes.

[Zacha341]

Hah! Just remember flames are hard to so precisely steer.

No less contain!

One of the fires is threatening the Reagan Presidential Library.

Burn, baby. Burn. No comment.

[Richard]

There is an interesting overlay map of the current path of the fires and the proposed route of the 90 billion Caltrain and how they follow each other.

So what happens in the future if there is a fire that closes the tracks for a couple of weeks.

The state is also pushing everybody to switch to electric cars,in these situations you would kinda be stuck with no electricity to charge your car.

[Canadian Visitor]

A few thoughts:

California's bigger problem, by far, is water supply.

Potable water is in decline due to overtaxed aquifers, and river diversions for irrigation that were reckless in scale before the era of water-intensive crops, and are an outright disaster in the making now.

California and the U.S. will find a way to tackle that, likely a mix of changing to less water-intensive agriculture, greater conservation, an end to endless laws, and probably a sizable investment in desalination.

But that will raise the cost of water substantially, and will be a real challenge.

On the fires themselves, the need is there address both where people build; but also HOW they build.

Things like moving to metal fencing vs wood; metal shingles; as well as burying electrical wires wherever practical so they don't pose near as much risk of starting or exacerbating a fire.

[Jimaz]

... California's bigger problem, by far, is water supply.

Potable water is in decline due to overtaxed aquifers, and river diversions for irrigation that were reckless in scale before the era of water-intensive crops, and are an outright disaster in the making now.

California and the U.S. will find a way to tackle that, likely a mix of changing to less water-intensive agriculture, greater conservation, an end to endless laws, and probably a sizable investment in desalination.

But that will raise the cost of water substantially, and will be a real challenge....

Here's an eye opener in nearby Arizona: Draining Arizona: Mining For Water In The Desert Leaves Residents' Wells Dry | NBC News. Summary: the ag corporations can afford to dig deeper wells but residents can't. So the problem grows without bound.

Near Phoenix the falling water table causes the desert floor to drop, peeling it away from surrounding mountains, opening deep fissures. Years ago I-10 had to be repaired because of one of these fissures.

Interactive map of earth fissures in Arizona: Natural Hazards in Arizona

[Johnnny5]

The insurance companies in Florida did the same thing,started pulling out when the hurricanes hit Miami.

So the state told them if you want to keep the lucrative auto insurance part you must still sell homeowners.

California appears to be one upping Florida's past actions and has issued a one year moratorium which blocks insurance companies from cancelling or not renewing fire policies in fire prone areas. So much for change..

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/ne...0-0e525990cce7