Kurt D

Sonic said it far better than I could. ❤️

JeffTheAlpaca

Drought and wildfires in CA and now 2022 is off to a bad start again with no rain.

LurkerDan

Yeah, it's totally surreal. These were not homes in places that seemed at risk from a wildfire. But months with no rain, 80 mile an hour winds, and a spark, I guess.

I am fine, heck I didn't even lose power (the wind blew down so many trees that many homes nowhere near the fire also lost power). But I know a few people who lost everything, and countless people with just one degree of separation. I have two friends whose houses were 100' from the fire line, and many of their neighbors lost everything. And the number of gofundmes shared by my friends, for friends of theirs, is heartbreaking.

I have a lot of guilt, mostly, that I didn't get touched, that I should do more for the people who did, etc.

Nick Danger

The New York Magazine published a very good interview about the Colorado fire.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022...firestorm.html

For example: How could a Costco burn? It's a cinder block building in the middle of a giant parking lot. It burned because high-speed winds blew thousands of burning embers at it, and some penetrated. Maybe they got in through vents or the gap between the wall and the roof. Those houses burned from the inside.

The whole interview is fascinating.

clckworang

I almost feel guilty that the first thing I thought about when I saw the thread title was personal stuff. In that vein, it would be a close competition between no more remote work at my job or the freak February freeze in South Texas that killed a lot of my plants and trees that I've been growing. This year was supposed to be the first year that I got a large bounty from everything, but that proved not to be.

zyzzle

It is very catastrophic. When things like this happen, it really does put things in perspective. Nature is truly the most destructive force of all, and makes peddling personal concerns seem insignificant by comparison. The saddest news is you just know those folks in CO are being given grief and being fought tooth and nail over any insurance claims they've filed in their homeowners insurance. Most probably aren't even covered for alternative dwelling while their homes are being rebuilt (if indeed they can even *get* any permits, claims approvals, or action on same in a reasonable timeframe).

That could be Northern Orange County, CA where I live. In recent years, it's been an increasing concern and another reason I don't like residing here any more, after 35 years. We get fierce Santa Ana winds, sometimes, though rarely to 60 - 80 mph, and months and years of no rain. The yearly "wildfires" are a constant threat in an area that is in low-lying foothills. 2005 and 2018-20 were grim years for these, for the first time, there were mandatory evacuations, and it was hell. Two or three people I know have moved from the area because of fire threats. Most have stayed. "Oh! We'll be safe. That won't happen to us" is their excuse. The fallacy of it'll always happen to the *other* fellow. One family I know actually lost their home to these wildfires, although they lived in heavily brushed-area isolated in north-eastern Orange county, and the fires just ravaged them in 2020. They made it out with their lives...

LurkerDan

Well, the Costco didn't actually burn, it just sustained tons of smoke damage. But yeah, the Target supposedly sustained some fire damage, and the pretty new hotel across the road burned to the ground. And the neighborhood right behind them, of 300+ homes, completely gone.

Vibiana

Keeping you in my heart. ❤ may the outcome be good.

milo bloom

Maybe I missed the thread, but I'm surprised there was no discussion of the massive tornado that went through Kentucky and Southern Illinois a few weeks ago.
I lived in Mayfield in the 80s and 90s along with my future wife, and we both have family living in the area. They were fortunately spared as they all lived either north or south of the tornado's path, but did have to deal with power and water outages.

I hated living in that town as a kid. We moved there from Tulsa, OK which (to my eyes as a kid) was a bustling metropolis, and this tiny little town didn't even have a mall. You had to drive half an hour to get to a mall and then it was only one story. I had a lot of difficulty fitting in and left as soon as my wife and I could afford a moving truck.

But to see the devastation from the tornado still breaks my heart for that silly little town I lived in for 10 years. And worrying about my parents and my MIL, BIL and wife's uncle, I'm still stressed about it. And I'm absolutely furious at the death's in the candle factory.

It may have been a natural disaster, but it was caused by out season warm weather and that is from human driven climate change.

jfoobar

In fairness, the thread is about what we hated most about 2021. As bad as the tornadoes were, 90 dead in a year when hundreds of thousands have lost their lives to a pandemic (not to mention the socio-political self-infliction element to go along with it) just doesn't seem that substantial.

For me, the corporate malfeasance that appears to have led to some of these deaths is far more noteworthy than the deaths themselves. Plus, the 2021 tornado death total is above average but not well above average and only about one-fifth of 2011.

Of course, I have the luxury of not knowing anyone killed or any personal connection with the impacted areas.

IBJoel

Mine is super small compared to most of these, but work burnout*. I was promoted in July, but the wage increase wasn't anywhere near what I was hoping for. Then in November, our department's account managers all left and so I was given some billing tasks. I've actually applied to other positions in the company, but they wanted a heavy B2B background, compared to my B2C. To top it all off, I realized moving into my own apartment again (formerly renting out a room) was a mistake both financially (although totally doable, would just prefer to save more) and personally (my neighbor gives me anxiety and it traps me in a lease when I'd like to move closer to my girlfriend)

*Although DVD Talk is actually the bright spot of my work!

Norm de Plume

GoldenJCJ

I’ve been an “essential” worker since day one of the pandemic. Never laid off, never cut my hours, etc. I was so burned out within the first year of the pandemic I almost wished I had been laid off or furloughed. I’m grateful that I never had to worry about finances during the pandemic but I also struggled (extra job duties, potential COVID contact everyday, learning to work remotely, etc.) with working through this mess as well.

Part of me feels like I didn’t utilize this pandemic like I should have.