LA is washing away. Biggest storm in 20 years

[AznAnarchy99]

Yet hundreds of people die each year in hurricanes, blizzards, floods, tornadoes...and stupidity. (that one creeps up on you...)

People freak out with stuff they can't see coming or have no "control" over. So many of my friends have a fear of flying but they don't mind speeding in cars.

 

[JulesMaximus]

LA has nothing I can't live without. My firearm goes everywhere I go (except certain buildings, mostly federal). It's illegal in all of California though, so I can think of zero reason to disarm just for that state.

Honestly, I despise the politics of both the people who run the state and most of its population. I can live without those places and objects. I'm a Texan and I don't visit Houston, DFW and try to never be in San Antonio for more than the hour or so it takes to drive through it, because the Californians are tying to turn those cities into mini-Calis.

You can't take your precious gun with you anywhere in the rest of the world either. How does that make you feel?

I feel perfectly safe here being unarmed 100% of the time.

I'm curious, what are you so afraid of?

 

[BoomerD]

Having a tornado cellar is a way of life. LA has low probability but catastrophic tail risks. The type you don't see coming but wipe you out.

Yet, according to this"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_California
There have been less than 100 deaths due to earthquakes in California in the past 20 years. How many have been killed by tornadoes or hurricanes in the same time period? (and yes, that would probably encompass several states...some of which would exceed that number by themselves.)

While hurricanes can be seen for days, tornadoes are hit or miss. Sure, you get a big storm that MIGHT produce tornadoes and get a tornado watch or warning, but you never know for sure when or where one will strike. (kind of like earthquakes, but without the warning)

 

[Red Squirrel]

I rather not live where any natural disasters happen regularly but if I had to pick I'd take earthquakes over hurricanes/tornadoes. An earthquake is not going to send fuel trucks flying at you and rip your house off the foundation and move it several blocks away with you still inside. Either way you lose your house if it's a big one though, but as far as human life earthquakes are probably a bit less dangerous. Then again look at Haiti and Japan there was quite a lot of deaths and destruction there.

I guess with enough guns, you can protect yourself from either one of those though.

 

[IronWing]

I rather not live where any natural disasters happen regularly…

Dude, where you live, every single winter is a natural disaster.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Dude, where you live, every single winter is a natural disaster.

Winter is just business as usual here, unlike down south where everyone panics.

Really one threat here might be forest fires, what happened to Fort McMurray could happen here too. It actually happened in the early 1900's. But it's generally rare that forest fires get that close. Generally they can be put out way before they reach any cities or even cottages.

 

[Darwin333]

3-6" of potential rain and yall are all bent out of shape? Hell I live below sea level and that's just a decent thunderstorm on a Tuesday evening for us. We can, and often do, get 2-3" in a single hour which causes some minor street flooding but still nothing to really bitch about.

 

[Stopsignhank]

As long as this thread is still around, as far as building dams, 6 years ago we had more water than we knew what to do with. All of the lakes and reservoirs were full. So if they were to start building dams now, by they time they are done it would be raining so hard we would not need the dams.

http://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we13.htm


Then there is the Mailija dam. It is full of silt and does not really hold any water anymore. In fact they are trying to get rid of the damn, but they can't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilija_Dam

 

[Stopsignhank]

Did you all hear about the Santa Barbra delsalination plant? They built it during the last big drought to turn seawater into drinking water. As soon as the plant was done, so was the drought so it ran for 4 months and cost $34 million dollars in 1992. Due to this drought they decided to start it back up again in 1995. It is scheduled to come on line in February 2017, just in time for this rain storm.

After the plant was constructed, it was operated between March and June of 1992. Due to abundant rainfall in the 1991-1992 winter and subsequent winters, the City’s drought condition was relieved and the desalination plant was placed into a standby mode. The $34 million total construction cost was paid off during the initial 5-year contract period by the City, Goleta Water District, and Montecito Water District, with a City share of approximately $14.5 million. However, the Goleta and Montecito Water Districts did not elect to extend or renew their interest in the facility after the initial five year contract period.

On June 4, 1991, City voters elected to make desalination a permanent part of the City’s water supply portfolio. With the approval of the Long Term Water Supply Program on July 5, 1994 (LTWSP1994) the City added the desalination facility to its permanent sources of water. An Environmental Impact Report on the LTWSP1994 was certified on May 24, 1994. On October 15, 1996, the California Coastal Commission issued a Coastal Development Permit to the City for permanent desalination facilities up to a maximum capacity of 10,000 AFY. The permit provided for intermittent and base load operation. Due to sufficient freshwater supplies since 1991, the facility remained in long-term standby mode for reactivation when water supply demand cannot be met using all other available supplies including extraordinary water conservation.

On July 21, 2015, in response to exceptional drought conditions, the Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously to reactivate the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Facility.

The Charles E. Meyer Desalination Facility is expected to be operational for testing purposes by February 2017. The testing phase is expected to take about 2 months before water is supplied to the distribution system in April 2017.

http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/resources/system/sources/desalination.asp

The morale of the story, there is no easy answer to the rain water issue in California.

 

[Red Squirrel]

So why can't they build these things (dams, desalination plants etc), and keep using them, if these drouts are so cyclic? Seems silly to think "oh well we don't need it anymore" and scrap the whole thing, when you know damn well in a few years you'll need it again. Then again governments are the worst when it comes to long term thinking. I see it all the time with the stupid decisions my city always makes that end up causing the taxes to go up permanently. Municipal, provincial, and federal governments are all the same too when it comes to this, and in lot of cases, corporations too. It's all about "now" and not "forever".

 

[BudAshes]

So why can't they build these things (dams, desalination plants etc), and keep using them, if these drouts are so cyclic? Seems silly to think "oh well we don't need it anymore" and scrap the whole thing, when you know damn well in a few years you'll need it again. Then again governments are the worst when it comes to long term thinking. I see it all the time with the stupid decisions my city always makes that end up causing the taxes to go up permanently. Municipal, provincial, and federal governments are all the same too when it comes to this, and in lot of cases, corporations too. It's all about "now" and not "forever".

It's because politicians cut them to appease budget issues and look good. They figure they wont be there when the consequences arrive.

 

[JulesMaximus]

So why can't they build these things (dams, desalination plants etc), and keep using them, if these drouts are so cyclic? Seems silly to think "oh well we don't need it anymore" and scrap the whole thing, when you know damn well in a few years you'll need it again. Then again governments are the worst when it comes to long term thinking. I see it all the time with the stupid decisions my city always makes that end up causing the taxes to go up permanently. Municipal, provincial, and federal governments are all the same too when it comes to this, and in lot of cases, corporations too. It's all about "now" and not "forever".

They just completed one here in Carlsbad last year and it is operational. Still, it only supplies about 7% of the water needs of San Diego. It's a start though.

 

[BoomerD]

They just completed one here in Carlsbad last year and it is operational. Still, it only supplies about 7% of the water needs of San Diego. It's a start though.

Why is Carlsbad providing water for SD?

Getcherowndamnedwater!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Why is Carlsbad providing water for SD?

Getcherowndamnedwater!

It is adjacent to an aging power plant that is going to be going offline in a few years. Really it was the only place for it. They should build another one where the San Onofre nuclear power plant is. That is already offline as it is too old and costly to keep operating.

 

[ultimatebob]

LA washing away wouldn't be much of a loss. And LA people need to stop whining. It's either "We're too dry!!!" or "We're too wet" or "It's too smoggy" or "We're on fire!".

Don't forget "Our cops beat us up!" as well.

 

[Fritzo]

It's like there was a clog in the waterline, and it suddenly popped---now they're getting all the backpressure.

 

[IronWing]

The storm's is moving through Arizona now. I can smell the ocean.

The smell was about all we got. Less than a quarter inch of rain.

 

[Stopsignhank]

The smell was about all we got. Less than a quarter inch of rain.

We got more than that AFTER the storm. It kept drizzling all weekend and has sprinkled more today.

 

[NoTine42]

San Jose doesn't have emergency warning sirens?!?!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/creeks-rivers-top-banks-latest-california-storm-45625465

Firefighters knocked on doors to tell residents to get out of their homes because the city does not have sirens or another emergency warning system, San Jose spokesman David Vossbrink said.

 

[Raduque]

You can't take your precious gun with you anywhere in the rest of the world either. How does that make you feel?

I feel perfectly safe here being unarmed 100% of the time.

I'm curious, what are you so afraid of?

I have no desire to go to the rest of the world.

Bad people exist. I'm exercising my right of self-defense.

I'm sorry you don't like that.

 

[Craig234]

I have no desire to go to the rest of the world.

I was going to say that was likely.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I have no desire to go to the rest of the world.

Bad people exist. I'm exercising my right of self-defense.

I'm sorry you don't like that.

It's really too bad you're such a xenophobe. There are so many great places to visit outside of Murica. But yeah, you would have to leave your little safety blankey behind.

 

[Raduque]

It's really too bad you're such a xenophobe. There are so many great places to visit outside of Murica. But yeah, you would have to leave your little safety blankey behind.

I'm not xeonophobic, I simply have zero interest in 99% of the globe.

 

[MongGrel]

Did you all hear about the Santa Barbra delsalination plant? They built it during the last big drought to turn seawater into drinking water. As soon as the plant was done, so was the drought so it ran for 4 months and cost $34 million dollars in 1992. Due to this drought they decided to start it back up again in 1995. It is scheduled to come on line in February 2017, just in time for this rain storm.



http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/resources/system/sources/desalination.asp

The morale of the story, there is no easy answer to the rain water issue in California.

We have one of those crappy desalination plants in Tampa Bay.

I think the local politicians thought it was a good idea and it immediately overran build costs, has been a maintenance nightmare, and has never operated over 20% of what it was supposed to long term.

Just more money the local GOP guys pissed away.

It has been trying to run right for over a decade now I believe, even blowing more money on trying to repair it, it was clogged from the start just from clams growing on the intakes I think to begin with, among other things.

First World Problem, I would imagine.

 

[Craig234]

I'm not xeonophobic, I simply have zero interest in 99% of the globe.

This is consistent with what I was saying seems likely. You just have no interest in, respect for, valuing of other cultures, people etc. Who cares, do what they want, leave you alone - about it?