Flooding Disaster in Wrightwood California

 

Hello, Everyone.  I have been meaning to post, but am still in shock over the flooding we experienced up in the mountains on Christmas Eve.  I chose to weather the atmospheric rivers up there, thinking it would be safer on high ground.  My cottage is in a flood zone, so I packed up the car and the dogs, and got everything prepared for the storm.

We were fortunate in many ways.  I had spent hours stacking firewood, and brought plenty inside so that it would be dry.  The wood burning fireplace insert keeps the cabin warm, especially upstairs, since heat rises.  The previous owners left stacks of wool blankets, which I piled on the bed.  

My Jackery charger kept my phone and mini iPad charged, and I can also plug a lamp into it.  The power went out for days, so I relied on the food stockpile and tried not to open the fridge.  I did not want to cook outside with my camper stove in that violent storm, so I heated water for tea and coffee in the hot coals of my fireplace.  Good thing I still have a vintage Melita coffee maker!

My hot water heater was working, so the luxury of soaking in a hot bath each night was sublime.  I received numerous messages and calls from friends who were watching in horror on the news.   It helped tremendously to talk with them and with no Internet, I had not yet seen the images.

I checked in with a local friend of mine who is also my realtor.   She knows all about houses and has decades of experience in Wrightwood.  She had been evacuated, and was down staying in La Verne with her son.  Our power didn’t return when expected, so I drove the long way down to my cottage, making a large two hour circle to avoid the flooded and damaged roads.  It was a huge relief to arrive home and have heat, lights, Internet, a working fridge, stove and oven, and safety.

I talked with my neighbor who is a singer and listened to she and her husband’s take on the situation.  They were doing well and had ham radios.  Many people were hit very hard.  Some of the homes are filled with mud, and have been condemned.  It is tragic for the owners.  That could have been any of us.  The burn scar from last year’s fire has left us in a very precarious situation.  I worry that it will be like Malibu.  

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