My heart started racing as I watched my college housemate keep running the faucet while washing dishes in the shared sink. I just moved to Michigan from drought-stricken Los Angeles, and old habits die hard. Turn off the water while washing dishes. Keep your showers short. Make sure to run your sprinklers long enough to avoid fines from your HOA, and short enough to avoid fines for violating your monthly water allotment.
What all Angelenos have in common is that they know how precious water is.
Relief may relieve pressure on politicians, but your vote and voice can also hold politicians accountable.
The drought that plagued California from 2012 to 2016 is considered the most severe in the state's history. Thirteen of the 30 driest months on record occurred during this period, with Southern California's arid desert climate bearing the brunt.
I was in high school when the effects of the drought became apparent. The Santa Monica Mountains took on a hue of dark brown and black, hot soil was blown up from the ground in summer, and footsteps on the “grass” were accompanied by a distinctive sound. crunch. The rainy winters have disappeared and have merged with the hot summers. This is a dangerous combination with Santa Ana winds, an annual event in Los Angeles that marks the transition from summer to fall.
These strong winds, which were a nuisance at best during my childhood, turned deadly during the drought.
At the end of my junior year, while studying in my high school library, I remember feeling my eyes suddenly become hot. The entire room was filled with smoke, a red sun blazing in the orange sky, and ash was falling like snow to the ground. Just a few miles away, a passing car on Highway 101 accidentally ignited some brush, and the flames quickly spread into a crater of undergrowth covering the mountains that define the landscape of my hometown, the Conejo Valley. In 2013, Santa Ana winds spread that small spark into a raging blaze known as the Springs Fire, which burned more than 24,238 acres in just a day and a half.
Five years later, my family woke up to an evacuation order after something as harmless as a spark between two power lines in the Santa Monica Mountains exploded during the 2018 Woolsey Fire. That little spark Worst wildfire in California history — To date — has burned a staggering 96,949 acres of Malibu Canyon's stunning landscape, destroyed more than 1,600 structures, and resulted in the third highest insured loss in California history. This resulted in total damages of $5.5 billion.
More fires have hit Los Angeles County than the Woolsey and Spring fires combined; Los Angeles Times It is predicted to be the “costliest wildfire disaster in American history.”
More than 12,000 buildings were destroyed and at least 24 people were killed. Rows of quaint, multimillion-dollar beach houses along the Pacific Coast Highway are reduced to piles of rubble. Altadenaa diverse Los Angeles suburb dating back to the 1880s, nestled in the foothills of the majestic San Gabriel Mountains, was almost completely destroyed. My adoptive sister's biological parents, who have called Altadena home for decades, have nowhere to go, and tens of thousands of Angelenos who woke up last week are facing the same fate.
Growing up in Los Angeles, you were taught that wildfires were a “fact of life.” Dirty climate deniers contribute to climate change. Climate change is causing hot summers, lack of rain, and strong winds. Therefore, catastrophic wildfires are inevitable. The cracks in this story are becoming increasingly apparent, and beneath the surface lies the ignominious reality of decades of mismanagement and corruption by those who govern the Golden State.
The drought was broken by two people. the wettest consecutive rainy season As Los Angeles experienced from 2022 to 2024, most of this precious rainwater ended up in the ocean. why? California hasn't built a single reservoir since 1979, and environmental groups have blocked any efforts to update the state's water infrastructure.
When policy failures become catastrophic, the federal government steps in to bail out the city of Sacramento and its insurance companies, removing the incentive to take common-sense wildfire precautions. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) can continue kissing the ring of environmentalists while insurance companies abandon homeowners. The only real losers are the family of four who watched their house burn down on live TV.
I don't live in California anymore. That poor leadership is one of the main reasons I left my beloved state four years ago. Watching the fire spread from afar, seeing images of childhood memories burnt down, is moving, but it pales in comparison to the feelings of those who lost all their material possessions in a matter of hours. It's a barrel.
This cycle of devastating wildfires will continue until Californians demand action from their government. Relief may relieve pressure on politicians, but your vote and voice can also hold politicians to account. It's in your hands, California. You deserve better, so demand it from your leaders or vote it out.
