We had much less howling wind last night here compared to Sunday night so I had hoped to read better news this morning. Unfortunately, the OC Register says that many more homes in our county had to be evacuated at 1 am this morning.
It's so dry - the humidity level is between 5 & 10% and after a year of little rainfall, the canyons and hills are just full of dry brush. Add the wind and there's little chance of containing these fires.
We aren't directly threatened by the fires, but as Ted said, the smoke and smell are everywhere. Our home smoke alarm went off briefly yesterday morning and it scared the bejeezes our of me since we live on a hill above a very dry canyon.
The most eerie part was when the wind shifted yesterday and pushed the smoke clouds directly over the area of our shop. The streets take on a weird orangish-yellow glow that looks other-worldly.
We have two corporate events today - both in tents. I held off making the arrangements for as long as possible, fearing cancellations - but both are going forward. The event planners said the tents were going up last night. I hope they're still in place this morning.
I spotted tents and awnings in shreds on my way to work yesterday, and many downed trees.
Spoke with Eric late yesterday and they had lost power for a while in the afternoon. (They're much closer to the big OC fire than us.) According to the newspaper, a big chunk of the county is without power or phone service this morning.
I pray for the more than 300,000 people that have been evacuated from their homes here in So Cal. Right now, it is truly a disaster here for many families.
