Prefacing this with the statement that lives are what matter and thankful that the number of casualties (as reported now) are relatively low and that’s a miracle considering the devastation. But aside from the very wealthy who have 2nd, 3rd homes I’m trying to process what you’d do if you lost EVERYTHING.
Your life and loved ones’ lives are the most important irreplaceable things obviously - but aside from that. What on earth do you do if your house is gone, all your important ID documents, cash, prescription meds, precious family photographs, childhood memorabilia, family archive stuff with sentimental value, locks of hair, letters - all the small but precious things that mean so much. And then you’ve no school to go to, the shops have gone, the Drs surgery. Thousands of houseless people - where do they go to the toilet, wash, get fed and watered, get educated, work?? Will they have to set up tent cities and camps?
We hear about all the celebs filling out the 5-star hotels ( a vision in itself) How on earth do the ones who can’t afford that cope? How do you travel somewhere else if you’re fortunate enough to have relatives if you’ve lost your passport, your car, your ID? The roads are impassable? i guess if you get a warning you can gather up the essentials.
I know lots of people have their photos on the cloud but not all the photos are on it - those precious old family albums. It’s making me want to look into getting a firebox ( I’m not sure where you’d get one or whether they sell them in the UK.)
And it’s making me also think about the art that’s been lost in all those celebrities’ houses. I know in the scheme of things it’s a triviality - but can you imagine what those celebrities might have had on their walls, the vintage clothing, the antiques?
I’ve read threads on MN where people have been left with the clothes they’re stood up in because of a house fire. But the scale of this is crazy. It truly is like a war zone - and obviously makes you think of how people cope elsewhere in the world when war destroys everything around them including their loved ones - that’s a different level of trauma.
I can’t imagine they’re going to spring back quickly from this in LA . There are loads of not-wealthy people who live there too - ordinary workers, elderly people. How do you manage society when suddenly they need so much, at once. Maintain law and order?
I hope the coming winds don’t materialise - I hope they start containing it soon. But they do really seem at the mercy of the elements and it makes you realise how mankind can seem rather insignificant when the wrath of nature kicks in.