California Tried but Failed to Have an Extreme Weather Disaster
6 hours ago Kip Hansen 10 Comments
Opinion by Kip Hansen — 23 August 2023
Hurricane Hilary looked pretty bad when it was charging north parallel to the west coast of Baja California as a Cat 4 hurricane. I am a compulsive hurricane watcher, a habit left over from my years at sea in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean. I still have family in the Caribbean – so now I watch on their behalf.
I made the mistake on Saturday to turn on a TV and watch live weather news from Southern California. Every single weather spokesperson seemed to be under orders to use the words “catastrophic” and “deadly” as many times as possible, sometimes more than once in a single sentence. They were talking about the future – how the weather was going to be on Sunday and Monday (20 and 21 August).
I was far more worried about the border towns of Mexico – Tijuana and Mexicali – where poor infrastructure and shantytowns abound. Mexico did a fantastic job of protecting their people in advance. Thousands of troops were sent in to establish shelters and perform emergency response. Despite heavy rains and high winds, few lives, only one I believe, were lost. It could have been far, far worse.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/22/california-tried-but-failed-to-have-an-extreme-weather-disaster/
