Like the TV commercial that promotes a squeeze product in a tube to repair damage, our county wants us to prepare for the next damage. According to the Free Lance, our county wants us to attend a workshop and to respond to a survey which would be similar to purchasing a tube of fix-all.
In order to do that we need to think and remember our last weather damage. In remembering our last brush with disaster in 2023, our only breathable air was smoke inhalation from nearby forest fires.
Remembering another disaster in 2021, when four inches of rain fell over a single weekend, flooding low areas. Highway 101 flooded in sections north and south of Gilroy. Highways 152 and 156 experienced flooded sections and closure. Some people had to flee flooded homes.
Fleeing worse catastrophes would involve impacting our highways, which are already overused and in need of upgrading from two lanes to four lanes.
Choosing to leave presents another problem. Where would we go?
Our springtime green hills have now sun crisped into flaky areas of shredded wheat. Summer desert air can promote wildfires that have spontaneous starts. They do not require errantly tossed cigarette stubs to blaze but can start quite easily all by themselves.
What, then, can we actually do to be safe? Recommendations read to stay indoors where air can be better and temperatures more comfortable. Another temporary choice would be to visit the library or post office where cool temperatures prevail.
Our best choice is to prevent catastrophe. Prevention is in the area of redirecting energy use away from gas, whose emissions promote weather disasters, to electricity—lessening emissions impacting weather.
Phasing out gas power into electric power would be a huge positive choice easier than squeezing a tube of adhesive.
Mary Zanger
Hollister
