It's raining and it's good, Wildfires will follow in just a few months, here's 9 tasks we can do now to prepare in the west.

  It's raining today, and it's supposed to continue through tomorrow as well, we need the rain badly as we are most likely headed into another drought. I've been in the house all day with skunkpuppy, she is going nuts, I'm not so much, I have a lot of work to do. The tide was higher than normal today, it changes almost daily, it depends entirely on the conditions of the ocean outside the "Golden Gate", storms at sea are powerful and we can feel the effects although we are 40 miles inland.

Storms at sea cause high tides far inland.

I noticed on my wife's Facebook feed someone down the road is concerned the road will flood, she said this is their first winter on the island and they heard it was a normal occurrence. It is a common occurrence, but it is not normal, it is human-caused. I would have liked to comment on it, but I did not, I can see no use in it, I've found a lot of people don't read, and some, when they do the written word, has to be "proven", a little back up never hurt anything I guess.
  There was at one time two ditches running the length of our road, about 3-1/2 miles of it, one ditch on the shoulder of the road, the other in the middle of the yard. The yards are big, each one is at least 1/4 acre, they run from the river to the road. The ditches were dug when the road was subdivided in the early 1940's, our home is on the low end, in fact, I live in the lowest area of the island. So the ditches were dug and worked really well for a long time until the homeowners decided the ditches were not needed, so they filled them in. Our levee maintenance is performed by BIMD, Bethel Island Municipal District, they are supposed to maintain the ditches as well, they don't. (Link to a discussion of levees vs. floodplains) The ditches were filled in and now the entire southern end of the road floods, leaving the standing water almost all year around. It's a real mosquito breeding area, and the people still complain of the flooding, I suspect most of them do not know they are supposed to have a ditch, the flooding is caused by the same people that are complaining about it. The complaints have gone on for many years, the answer is obvious to me, but apparently no one else.
  Our levees are good, they are solid and well maintained, there are occasions when the water gets so high it's within a few feet of topping over, much like the spillway at Oroville. With the wildfires that occurred all throughout the western states last summer the soil has been exposed allowing unprotected run-off in some areas. The western states are not strangers to the results of wildfires it has been happening for thousands of years, if not millions.

A very controlled envrionment prepared to control erosion

Immediately after the fires erosion measures were taken, berms were built, straw wattles are laid down, and soil erosion control blankets are all employed. The wattles and blankets are constructed of wood shavings, coconut coir, straw, or synthetic woven materials such as polypropylene. All of the erosion control products must be anchored to the ground using wire pegs, or staples driven flush with the soil surface. Rocks, logs, and all debris must be removed prior to laying the materials down or it will be ineffective. They reduce soil erosion and encourage the propagation of seeds, the materials will decompose while the ground cover takes root to protect the soil from erosion, the Polypropylene will take much longer to break down.
  During the year 2017, the United States experienced 56,000 wildfires which burned 9 million acres of land, Arkansaw, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, California, Montana, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska and I will include British Columbia. (Link to a Wikipedia paper on all wildfires in 2017) Thousands of people had to be evacuated, as reported in Santa Rosa the fire burned one acre per second at times of high winds. The Santa Ana winds added to the super dry fuel will lead to wildfires which in 2017 ended up burning an area larger than the State of Maryland, almost from Santa Monica south to San Diego. There are some things we can do to prepare in advance of a wildfire, it is encouraged to take at least these steps in advance:
  * Stay Alert, as the summer dries the landscape keep on the watch for smoke, campfires left unattended, Bar-B-Ques raging out of control (that happens more often than we think), and suspicious activities. Most fires are started by humans, accidentally, unintentionally, or for monetary gain.
  * Get your plan made, include your entire family and neighbors as well, not everyone will participate keep in mind but will rely on you for leadership in the event of an evacuation. Be certain each member of the family has on them at all times a "contact card" and instructions on what to do if they are caught away from home, designate a contact number out of state for each person to call and report in. Include in your kit a photo of your pets with the family, most pets that disappear during a wildfire never return home. Make sure to include the children in your planning, don't leave them out, we need their "buy-in" if some of their ideas are used they will take a leadership role.
  * Every member needs an emergency kit made up in advance, either purchase a commercially assembled kit or build one yourself, there are volumes written about the disaster kits on the internet. The basics need to be covered, water, lighting, rain gear, medications, extra clothing and whatever else a person feels they must have. Commercial kits include a lot of items allowing the person to add whatever extra that is important to them for survival. (Link to kits)
  * If you have neighbors that need assistance include them in your plan, in the case of disabled people arrangements for evacuation must be made in advance, many disabled people live alone, they need our help. FEMA has templates to address pre-planning. (Link to templates)
  * Make sure to charge all of your electronic equipment every night, in the event of an evacuation you will be able to grab your phone, tablet, and laptop and get the heck out of Dodge.
  * Charge all electric wheelchairs, mobility scooters, and electric vehicles.
  * Have at a very minimum, 1/2 tank of fuel in your vehicle, and have an evacuation kit for cars in each vehicle.
  * Build a kit for your pets, it doesn't take much and most of the items you most likely have in your home, as with all of your kits these must be sturdy and light enough to grab quickly to toss into your vehicle, keep your pets on a leash, they will panic. The majority of evacuation centers will not allow pets, arrangements will need to be made for all with the exception of service animals. (Link to kits for dogs, and Cats)
  * Scan important papers, documents, birth certificates, DD240's and all important paperwork, then store it on a flash drive, in fact, a backup of your entire computer can be on a flash drive or two. 
  The fires in the Southern Part of California began just as the deadliest and most destructive fires ever recorded that killed 44 people and burned down 9,000 buildings and other structures. Now the rebuilding begins, typically it takes two years from the time a house is burned down to completion of the rebuild. There are so many houses that need to be rebuilt the time frame is longer than that now, some areas are contracting with the same construction firm to control costs.

This is an attractive fireproof house, it looks like it could be resistant
to a wind event as well. 

  Residents unknowingly support the fires, we continue to build in fire-prone areas, then we rebuild there, but what's to be done? It's simple if a person doesn't live in a fire-prone area, just stop building there, however that's easier said than done. I am more of an advocate of changing our building methods and materials, after all, we send space vehicles aloft every month which are able to sustain very high temperatures and the occupants live through it. I wonder if we can use some space age materials to construct our homes, and other structures to withstand fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires.
  Thank you for reading and sharing, now that it's raining again when it stops and the sun re-appears we will be able to hear the weeds, grass, and brush grow, then within a few days, it will be dry enough to burn. We can breath easy for a few months, then the sky will fill with smoke once again, please be prepared for it.

jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com