Climate Change/Mass Extinction Megathread

[The Brain]

My son and his girlfriend are in the Evac Level 2 zone. They were told last night to have a bug-out bag ready and a place to evac to. I'm spending my lunch hour cleaning my bedroom, shampooing the carpet, etc. so they have somewhere soft to land. (I'll sleep in my office.)

The Evac Level 1 zone is now six miles from my apartment.

[PDH]

The entire world is orange right now, and that is not a Trumpism.  Fires all over, smoke high up, medium, and low altitude.  It was dark because of a smoke/fog combination this morning, night like til 9:30 am.

I feel for you Meri, the best thing to do in these situations is gather as much information as you can and process it - too many are making things up, misunderstanding, or simply too moronic to gauge the situation properly right now.

[merithyn]

My son and his girlfriend are in the Evac Level 2 zone. They were told last night to have a bug-out bag ready and a place to evac to. I'm spending my lunch hour cleaning my bedroom, shampooing the carpet, etc. so they have somewhere soft to land. (I'll sleep in my office.)

The Evac Level 1 zone is now six miles from my apartment.

So...where will you go if you have to evacuate?

My other son lives further inland, so that's one place, but it would temporary. If my neighborhood burns, the entire city will burn. There are evacuation centers in some schools, but that would be very dangerous for those of us who are high-risk for COVID.

So, in short, I'm not sure right now.

[merithyn]

The entire world is orange right now, and that is not a Trumpism.  Fires all over, smoke high up, medium, and low altitude.  It was dark because of a smoke/fog combination this morning, night like til 9:30 am.

I feel for you Meri, the best thing to do in these situations is gather as much information as you can and process it - too many are making things up, misunderstanding, or simply too moronic to gauge the situation properly right now.

The only information that I'm getting is from the Fire & Safety emergency line. I get emailed and texted updates. I don't have any friends out here who would feed me information (I'm outside their circle for that stuff).

Honestly, until Valmy asked, I didn't even think of where we would go. I don't know. And now I'm scared because I don't know.

And I'm so tired of being scared.

[PDH]

The entire world is orange right now, and that is not a Trumpism.  Fires all over, smoke high up, medium, and low altitude.  It was dark because of a smoke/fog combination this morning, night like til 9:30 am.

I feel for you Meri, the best thing to do in these situations is gather as much information as you can and process it - too many are making things up, misunderstanding, or simply too moronic to gauge the situation properly right now.

The only information that I'm getting is from the Fire & Safety emergency line. I get emailed and texted updates. I don't have any friends out here who would feed me information (I'm outside their circle for that stuff).


Honestly, until Valmy asked, I didn't even think of where we would go. I don't know. And now I'm scared because I don't know.

And I'm so tired of being scared.

Ok, start using a map that shows IR hotspots, if you can find one that has winds as well that can help.  A quick search came up with https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:2020-09-08..2020-09-09;l:street;@-122.5,45.4,13z
from NASA.  I was using a California made one that gave more detail.

The traffic on these sites is extremely high, so be prepared to wait.    This information will not take the place of anything, but it will give that bit more.  Your goal is to recognize you are scared, then make sure you know what to do instead of having that fear turn into panic.  Too many people combine panic with a lack of information to make a deadly combination.  For instance, it seems to the north and west of Portland is the easier travel area, that is how you should look to go if you evacuate instead of trying to figure this out at the last moment.

None of this really helps, but knowing anything can be better than trying to Trump your way through this.

[merithyn]

Going north from Portland will be a nightmare. There are only two bridges across, and they will be packed. I'm looking at going to the Bridge of the Gods to the east, then heading north? Assuming fires don't close the gorge pass. The area directly east of the mountains in Washington looks clear right now. Of course, a new fire could start at any point because we now live in bizarro world that's trying to kill everyone, so who knows what will happen between now and evac time?

Seedy is feeling the smoke in Spokane, and air quality maps show almost the entire state of Oregon under duress.

I want to go home to the Midwest. The air just hurts my face there. It doesn't try to suffocate me.

[merithyn]

PDH, you and you alone are keeping me from blind panic. Thank you. 

[HisMajestyBOB]

Pictures from Salem, Oregon: https://twitter.com/UglyBoyJ2/status/1303414683693506560
Crazy shit. Stay safe Meri 

[PDH]

Looking at the IR hotspots, unless the winds really pick up you are mostly facing problems to the SSW.  I would avoid going up the river to cross, as in Washington there are hotspots and the boonies are not a great place to drive into during wildfires.

That said, heading down the Columbia to the west might be a decent option if you need to bug out.  There is no shame in being scared, but that shouldn't preclude making preparations.  Knowing you, you have a the emergency supplies ready, but given what I see, I do not expect the fire to reach into the main part of Portland.  It is incredibly hard to make firelines in the mountains, it is actually easier when you get closer to developed areas.

Right now, pray that no wind picks up.

[merithyn]

No wind "picks up"??

Peedy, we're dealing with gusts up to 50mph right now. Mostly from the south. It's the wind that has everyone freaked out. Well, that and how fucking dry everything is. It's our dry season. No real rain in a while.

Going northwest from here, especially up the gorge, will have us caught in a significant traffic mess. Portland has deliberately kept major highways to a minimum to force people to commute/ride bikes. A mass evacuation is going to fuck all of us up. And I live on the far east end of the city, in the foothills of the mountains. If I try to go west from here, I'll sit in a parking lot.

But your point is taken regarding not going away from civilization. Going to the Bridge of the Gods, then turning west will be our best option

Found this, by the way:

https://tools.oregonexplorer.info/OE_HtmlViewer/Index.html?viewer=wildfireplanning

[merithyn]

Jesus Christ. Even the coastal cities are on fire.

https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2020/09/swath-of-lincoln-city-ordered-to-evacuate-as-wildfires-close-highways-force-evacuations.html

[Eddie Teach]

Glad all I have to worry about are dying hurricanes.

[PDH]

We are not getting the winds here, that is helping.  The wind maps seem to have the wind mainly coming down the Columbia River Valley then swinging the southwest.  Salem looks a lot more in trouble than Portland today (wind map from 10:30 this morning).

http://hint.fm/wind/

[merithyn]

Zoom.Earth has an amazing view of all the fires right now, as well as the smoke. Fun times.

[Syt]

Here's hoping you stay safe in this madness, meri.