The Sky is Blue Again
@DeborahDiane (40845)
Laguna Woods, California
October 23, 2017 12:12pm CST
After two weeks of smoke filled skies in the Napa Valley, our daughter who lives there called us yesterday to say, "the sky is blue again."
There are still fires burning, but they have moved away from the southern end of the Napa Valley, where our daughter lives. She told us that when the fires started, they could look out their living room window and see so much fire on the hills that it looked like a volcano had erupted and lava was flowing down.
When our daughter and her husband went to evacuate an 80 year old man they know, they drove through a firestorm with fires burning on both sides of the road. Our son-in-law, a retired fireman who was called back into service, managed to get their elderly friend safely back to their house. He has been staying with them since that first night.
School administrators tried to open the St. Helena schools last Tuesday, but it was too smokey. Our daughter is one of the teachers there. The schools were finally able to open today. Some of the teachers live in Santa Rosa, however, where so many homes were lost and many roads are still closed. Those teachers now have a two-hour commute each way. It's a nightmare still for them, and they don't know when things will get better, since some of them lost their homes.
People who lost their homes are trying to find apartments, campers, RVs or anything they can to stay in while they begin the process of getting their lots cleared and their homes rebuilt. There is an extreme housing shortage in the area, making the problem even more severe.
There have also been extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity ... people who have given friends their extra cars or RVs, or have opened up their homes, or done many other things to help them get restarted.
Recovery is going to be a long process.
But at least the sky is blue again.
13 people like this
13 responses
@rebelann (117218)
• El Paso, Texas
25 Oct 17
That's so true @DeborahDiane stupid Harvey caused a domino effect .... oh good grief, that's scary.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
25 Oct 17
@rebelann - I just hope the winter isn't too severe. If it is, there will hardly be a part of the US that is unscathed this year.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@rebelann - Yes, recuperation from all the recent tragedies is going to be a very long process. I still feel sorry for the people who were flooded in Houston, and since that time there has been one disaster after another!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
24 Oct 17
@DeborahDiane Yes, so sad. I'm glad that at least most people are insured - I read somewhere that natural disasters (or Acts of God) weren't covered, but that was ages ago.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@jaboUK - From talking to @LadyDuck, I know that insurance is different in different countries. Here in the U.S., basic homeowner's insurance usually covers fires, but not floods or earthquakes. You have to take out special policies for those problems. In addition, when people buy their homeowner's insurance they can choose the amount of their deductible. Some people are likely to have had high deductibles in order to get lower annual premiums. It will be especially hard on those people. In other cases, the people will be reimbursed for the value of their old structure, but the amount they receive may not be enough to build a new house that conforms to modern standards. That will also be a problem for many people. In addition, many of these people may not have insured their personal belongings for their full replacement value. That will be a third problem. It will not be easy for them.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@jaboUK - All the homes will be covered by insurance, although most of the people could have large deductibles which they will have to pay. Other structures, such as business buildings, should be covered by insurance, but many of the business owners are losing money because they cannot operate their businesses right now. In addition, all their employees have lost their jobs until the businesses can start operating again. There are a number of large wineries and restaurants which burned to the ground, so this is affecting a lot of employees. Renters may have lost all their belongings and will not be reimbursed, unless they had special renters insurance, which not all renters have. Yes, it is an awful situation for the people there and, like so many disasters, the public will soon forget about it because it will be replaced in the news with a different problem or disaster. It will take a long time for some of these people to fully recover and some of the elderly will never completely recover. It is sad.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45941)
• United States
26 Oct 17
Such a tragic event. My heart goes out to those who suffered through this.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45941)
• United States
27 Oct 17
@DeborahDiane very sad. Even sadder for those families who have lost loved ones.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Oct 17
@ElusiveButterfly - It will be years before some of these people recover. It is sad.
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
3 Nov 17
its so sad isn't it... I'm glad peoe are comingvtogether and helping each other out in so many different ways... and I think that being able to see blue sky again will really help... 
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Nov 17
@sueznewz2 - Yes, I think the blue skies are helping people feel better, even though thousands of them have seen their lives changed forever.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (254949)
• United States
24 Oct 17
Recovery will take a long time for the victims of our recent fires, multiple hurricanes, and earthquakes for those affected. It's nice to see people helping each other in any way possible. So happy your daughter and husband are safe. I thought of them often.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@DianneN - I was so relieved to talk to our daughter this past weekend, too. We were very worried about them when the fires were at their worst. I know she was happy to get back to teaching and her husband was happy to "retire" his firefighting gear again and go back to running his business in Napa. The last two weeks were crazy for them. I agree that recovery across the U.S. is going to take quite a while.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
25 Oct 17
@DianneN - Good description for what has been happening in the U.S. ... the year from hell.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@RubyHawk - That is actually a very good idea. I haven't heard of anything like that happening, but I wouldn't be surprised if some smart businessmen decide to try it.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99367)
• Atlanta, Georgia
25 Oct 17
@DeborahDiane If someone started the movement very likely many people would donate an RV.
1 person likes this
@crossbones27 (52905)
• Mojave, California
23 Oct 17
That is good to hear and fire season sounds like it is going to be a long one this year. 101 here and it is October 23. Hope it gets better for people though.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
23 Oct 17
@crossbones27 - I agree. It is also going to be around 101 here in So Cal today. Unbearably hot, especially for people who live near the ocean and do not have air conditioning.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
27 Oct 17
That is good news in the midst of so much devastation. Just seeing the blue sky is spirit lifting.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
28 Oct 17
@BelleStarr - Yes, I know that it really lifted the spirits of our daughter, even though she said the hills around her home are still charred and ugly.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
23 Oct 17
@just4him - Yes, it is going to take these people a long time to recover.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@JudyEv - Yes, as hard as it is going to be for these people to recover, a blue sky is a good starting point. I know it cheered up our daughter.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (122123)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
27 Oct 17
I know what you mean that the worst part of the fires is gone and to see a blue sky again is priceless.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Oct 17
@Deepizzaguy - My daughter was just so relieved to be breathing clean air again!
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Oct 17
This extreme heat isn't welcome though. Have to hope no new fires break out in SoCal.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
23 Oct 17
@JohnRoberts - I'm hoping we do not get new fires in So Cal, too. That would be miserable with this heat.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40845)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 17
@Kandae11 - Since a lot of the fires were started by arsonists, it is hard to predict how they could be prevented. It is possible more homes could be saved if they were built from concrete and had sprinkler systems inside, but not everyone wants to go to that extreme. It has been pretty horrible, however.
1 person likes this
