Magnitude 8.1 quake in Mexico and evacuations for Irma and Harvey send alerts to our mountain

By Patric Hedlund, TME

Update, Sept. 22: Since this was first published on September 15, we have seen Hurricane Maria devastate Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands while another earthquake, Magnitude 7.1, struck Mexico, this time causing what appears to be rising to over 300 deaths.

The hurricanes in Texas and Florida this month, plus the strongest earthquake in recorded history in Mexico last Thursday (reported by the Mexican government as magnitude 8.4 and the U.S. Geological Survey at M8.1), all send an alert to residents of the Mountain Communities: Are you ready? Do you have a plan?

In California, massive firestorms substitute for deadly hurricanes as a cause for evacuations. Over 75% of Mountain Community residents left their homes in front of the Day fire in 2006. It ravaged 163,000 acres. Cattle, horses and other livestock were loaded into convoys to evacuate from Lockwood Valley just before the blaze rushed in that took down the forest. Just this month, over 480 Burbank families evacuated in front of the La Tuna fire.

Is your family prepared if you have to leave on an instant’s notice? Have you developed an evacuation plan together?

What if our long-overdue major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault occurs? Exits from the mountain may be blocked, and vital services such as water, telephone and electricity may be interrupted. Do you have the supplies and a plan for sheltering in place if it takes three weeks to restore access?
Governor Edmund G. Brown has proclaimed September as National Preparedness Month in California. This is a great time to take action for personal and family preparedness.

Photo captions:

Runaway firestorms cause evacuations from these mountains.

To see full stories with photos, please purchase a copy of the newspaper at many locations (click this link for a list) throughout the Mountain Communities.

Or, have your newspaper delivered via mail and include internet access. Just call 661-245-3794. Classified ads are FREE to paid subscribers! See front page at www.mountainenterprise.com for details.

The e-Edition is available now with full photos and stories at The Mountain Enterprise e-Edition. Select the 2017-0915 edition.

(subscriber login required)

Photo captions:

Runaway firestorms cause evacuations from these mountains.

To see full stories with photos, please purchase a copy of the newspaper at many locations (click this link for a list) throughout the Mountain Communities.

Or, have your newspaper delivered via mail and include internet access. Just call 661-245-3794. Classified ads are FREE to paid subscribers! See front page at www.mountainenterprise.com for details.

The e-Edition is available now with full photos and stories at The Mountain Enterprise e-Edition. Select the 2017-0915 edition.

(subscriber login required)

This is part of the September 15, 2017 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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