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his century California has been the region of the United States that has suffered the most fires. The last six years, getting worse. Thus, in 2017 the destroyer Thomas In October, it razed more than 300,000 acres, burned more than 1,200 houses and buildings, and left enormous economic losses, especially in Napa and Sonoma. 44 people died and the number of evacuees rose to 150 thousand.
A year later, The Fire Camp Fire It affected more than 70 thousand hectares and the town of Paradise. The death toll rose to 58. For its part, Woolsey It left three dead in the south of the entity, destroyed more than 500 homes and displaced some 200,000 people in the mountains near the Malibu coast.
In 2019, one of the wildfires threatened to reach 2,400 buildings in Santa Barbara, northwest of Los Angeles, forcing the eviction of 6,300 residents, while Goleta and other nearby neighborhoods were placed on permanent watch. another fire, dig, affected the Los Padres National Forest Park and neighboring populated areas. These two fires were added to others that hit California destroying numerous houses, areas of vineyards and forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
In 2020, Glass Fire Y Zoog Fire affected Napa Valley and Shasta County. More than 30,000 hectares burned, destroying homes and entire towns in its path. Four people died and the evacuees were more than 40 thousand. The fire destroyed all the vineyards of the prestigious Chateau Boswell in the city of Saint Helena.
Last year the fire oak It affected Mariposa County, on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park. It burned more than 4,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of several rural communities. another fire, washburnto the south of the famous natural park, devastated more than 2 thousand hectares.
The above fires and many others in California are blamed on drought-stricken areas fanned by very high winds. Experts pointed out that they are actually evidence of climate change.
Now in California there are no fires, but there are floods that have caused extensive damage to public and private infrastructure. There are 18 people who died, a higher figure than in the last two years due to forest fires. It all started with a powerful New Year’s storm that caused landslides, power outages and road closures across the state.
Strong winds and downpours left tens of thousands of homes without power on January 1, as floodwaters from the Cosumnes River reached record levels and wreaked havoc, breaching three dykes and flooding the area. Dozens of cars were under water. The worst came last Tuesday: houses and vehicles were flooded in the Planada population of Merced County. Millions of residents were placed on alert, 50,000 people received evacuation orders and more than 110,000 homes and businesses were without power.
Heavy rains buried ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada. The most affected have been the residents of small communities flooded by water and mud, isolated because the rains flooded the communication routes. Large cities have also suffered very intense downpours, such as the entire Sacramento area, while Oakland had its rainiest day since 1970. San Francisco registered the biggest in more than 170 years. In short, half of the 58 counties in the state of California have been declared disaster areas and it will cost more than $2.5 billion to repair the damage.
All this has happened in the first 15 days of 2023, while the drought is extreme, despite the fact that several of the main reservoirs were filled, such as the Folsom and Nimbus dams and Lake Natoma. Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe ski resorts record up to 42 inches of snow.
Bangladesh, a very poor country, is now suffering a great tragedy due to flooding. With California, it is an example of how climate change affects rich areas as well as poor ones. And they remind us that in April the heat begins in Mexico. And in July, the hurricanes. Any official strategy to alleviate a little what awaits us?
