Health~ma headed your way, msbelle!

Nothing-ma, msbelle.

I have no words for what is happening in my beloved Los Angeles. It's horrific. At least 25% of our student body is currently evacuated, and we have 38 students with confirmed lost homes from the Palisades Fire. By the end, we suspect it will be closer to 100. The winds just shifted south, and the fire is headed down towards my beloved school and —More importantly — thousands more homes. ND and I know at least seven friends or family of friends who lost everything in the Eaton or Palisades fires. And they are still raging. The winds have died down a bit but are going to pick back up Sunday into next week.

We are safe for now. We've been lucky that none of the major fires came towards us when the winds were the worst, whipping 80 mph. We didn't have power for three days, but we have solar and battery backup that got us through all our basic needs. We are currently on a boil water notice, but we broke out the earthquake supplies and have plenty of purified. We are okay. But we've been on high alert since Tuesday, with ND staying up late and me getting up early, go bags and pet carriers ready. Of course, we live in the highest danger fire zone, so that could change in a second. But no one ever thought places like Altadena would burn, so I don't even know what high danger means anymore. We, at least, are always on high fire alert and are required to do clearance every spring and carry high risk fire insurance. The people in most of these areas never dreamed they'd be facing fires like this.

I love my county (and it is a county, not just a city). I believe we will rise from these ashes. But I'm heartbroken and riddled with grief right now.

But I'm heartbroken and riddled with grief right now.

That's a lot of loss.

It's impossible to assess such things as they happen, but this is a huge, historical regional trauma.

This is an inflection point in LA's history and will mark it, and those who lived through it.

It's just harrowing.