The New Katrina

You've all probably heard about the massive fires in Southern California.  (If you haven't, turn on the news.)  My in-laws had to leave their home late last night.  According to Google Earth, their house is still safe but the fire is only 2.6 miles away and 0% contained (that's not a typo).  They're staying at a friend's house for now.

For those who are interested, here are the best links I've found on the fire:

• YubaNet Fire News: Great text description of all the different fires in Southern California, with statistics and even some pictures.  The fire threatening my in-laws is being known as the "Witch Fire," but Southern San Diego is also being threatened by the "Harris Fire."  Both are out of control.
• Web Fire Mapper: There are a lot of websites that will show you realtime updates of the fire, but they've all crashed from too much traffic.  Except this one.  It's linked to the NASA MODIS satellites.
• Unisys Current Regional Surface Map: Unisys has been running a little-known free weather map service for many years now.  It's the best sources for satellite images and other weather maps.  This link shows you the ground conditions in the Southwestern United States, including the all-important wind direction.  Right now the wind direction is pushing the fire away from my in-laws' house.
• University of Maryland Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS): A great collection of plugins for Google Earth, Nasa WorldWind, email/cell phone updates, and more.  You can watch the fire in realtime through Google Earth.
• ESRI has a good collection of links as well.

I call this "The New Katrina" because it's exactly the same thing: a massive natural disaster caused by global warming (the area was under extreme fire danger because it's been unusually hot with unusually little rainfall), and the federal government is doing nothing.  They're already stuffing people into the football stadium . . . sound familiar?  Meanwhile there are only two drivable highways leading out of San Diego--the rest are blocked by fire--and the Marines have evacuated all their aircraft from their base in Miramar.

The first obvious, glaring question is: "why isn't the federal government doing anything?"  Oh yeah, Bush is behind the wheel.

The second obvious, glaring question is: "when can we stop this 'debate' about global warming and just recognize that our impact on the environment is directly causing death and destruction for thousands of Americans?"  Environmentalism isn't about saving the spotted owl any more; it's about saving regular Americans.  I used to complain about the fact that there was no residential recycling program in La Jolla, never mind the embarrassingly destructive SUV's and Hummers you see everywhere.  I used to joke that the rich, snobby people who lived there would never be affected by global warming because if the entire planet was ruined and there was one little oasis left on an island somewhere, the rich snobs could afford to live there.  I guess I was wrong about that: looks like they're getting bit in the ass after all.

This isn't a "cynical use of personal tragedy."  It's not "too soon" to "bring it up."  You could have said the same thing about Megan's Law or the Amber Alerts.  This isn't about "telling points" or "political advantage" any more.  It's about reacting to a very real problem--one we can solve.
Meanwhile my in-laws, who have always been environmentally conscious, always recycled, and drive fuel-efficient cars, might lose their brand new home.  Please pray for them.