While some folks scramble to find their rarely used umbrellas today, others in the Southland are either sandbagging or shoring up their properties in the areas charred by the recent wildfires. The threat of mudslides is so serious in Orange County, volunteer evacuations are recommended in the most fire-ravaged canyon areas of Yorba Linda.
Earlier this month, wind-whipped wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched thousands of acres in Santa Barbara, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties. Meanwhile, other communities like Sierra Madre are sandbagging as well because nearby hillsides were victimized by fires earlier in the year.
Light rain began this afternoon in some spots; more is forecast through the night and possibly through Thursday, Thanksgiving. Some places could get a half inch to as much as three inches in the foothills. Here, in Burbank, I’m ready for the rain. The lawn is fertilized and re-seeded. Also, I’ve put out several buckets in my yard to collect some of that precious rain to be drizzled later onto my patio and porch plants. We haven’t had a good rain in months, so collecting and using as much of it as possible makes sense here in drought-plagued Southern California.