Tragedy

Born in Los Angeles, I am witnessing the worst fire disaster of my life. Thankfully, besides some wind damage, we have escaped any fire damage.

Next to a loss of life, losing one’s home and lifelong possessions is the most tragic event I can think of. Many of these homes were not insured as insurance companies have been canceling homes to protect their business.

Southern California offers so many beautiful things, the weather, the ocean, the mountains, the desert, the arts, the entertainment, the sports, and so on. It also has the highest taxes, the strictest environmental laws, earthquakes, fire storms, floods, mudslides, high winds, etc.

Are the potential tragedies worth the beauty? I don’t know but we live in a scary environment.

We can’t change what occurs due to natural causes, but we can change how we as a state can be better prepared for disasters, which are sure to happen. We can retrofit buildings to protect against earthquakes, make sure we have enough basins to preserve our water and prevent it from being washed into the ocean, and be more involved in forestry with our mountainous regions to clear the fire areas through deforestation.

Natural events will happen but we must be better prepared to lessen the tragedies that can occur.

Our prayers are with those who have lost their homes and or loved ones and thank goodness for the brave men and women of the fire and police departments who risk their lives to save us and our homes.