has issued a red flag warning from 5 a.m. Sunday August 23 to 5 p.m. Monday August 24. #RiverFire#CarmelFire#DolanFirehttps://inws.ncep.noaa.gov/a/a.php?i=49422675
Mary Duan from the Monterey Country Weekly: is working on an SPCA story right now. The center is under evac warning and they’re prepared. If you need help with an animal and evacuation, they’ll help.
Here is Mary’s story about the SPCA, 600+ animals they’ve rescued & are preparing to bring to the Monterey Fairgrounds and Marina Equestrian Center.
More from Californian, Salinas newspaper
No federal aid so Governor Gavin Newsom has asked Canada and Australia for assistance.
For more about fires scroll down…
COVID in Monterey County
Monterey County (which includes Marina, Seaside, Soledad, Salinas, Greenfield and King City where the poor, middle class, diverse races of people live, not just Carmel, Monterey, Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove where the wealthy people live) has confirmed 6,785 positive cases of COVID among its residents this year. The death rate in Monterey County (0.7 percent) is lower than the rest of the state. John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center reports that 11,504 Californians have died as a result of complications (41 million people live in California).
Complications seem to include being old, having underlying health problems and/ or being Latino... most of the deaths were among Latinos aged 55 years and older. The daily demographic report issued by the county indicates that 36 of the fatal victims reported in Monterey County were Latinos, while 37 of them were over the age of 55.
The Salinas Valley 83% of all cases reported from the city of Salinas down the valley to the San Luis Obispo County line. city of Soledad, with a population of about 25,000, has had 436 cases, Greenfield 474 cases.
My case manager who is also a Public Health Nurse told me that she has been investigating COVID cases and most of the people have been Latino, Big Agriculture workers. They are routinely paid poorly, live in cramped quarters and work in terrible conditions. She also said that their symptoms have been less severe over the last two months.
Farm workers in Salinas
During the smoke and heat... and in the middle of a pandemic. These farmworkers are the engine that keeps the economy running and the hands that keep all of us fed. from Jonathan Dupin aka @Blu
Farmworkers in the smoke and heat of #Salinas#California#riverfire#carmelfire#fire
"Is this the best way we can raise our good orchards. Is this the best way we can grow our good crops? To die and be buried, to rot on the top soil. To be called by no name except deportee." Woody Guthrie
Why is the local hospital acting as though we are in a huge COVID crisis? CHOMP, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula is my local hospital.
Monterey County hospitals have treated 409 patients since January, while Santa Cruz medical centers have seen 109, via cumulative numbers compiled by health officials. The latest fatality is the 47th in Monterey County, while Santa Cruz has reported 7 since it started compiling.
Get lost, go away, says Monterey County where the so-called spike is: Patients tested to date: 7,268; Positive cases to date: 277; Current positive inpatients: 10 (including 1 in ICU); Deaths: 5. Monterey County testing and data.
In Santa Cruz, Corrine Hyland, a public information officer for the county, said COVID patients died last week. One of them was a male in his 60s and the second was a female in her late 90s. Both had underlying health conditions.
Labor Day Holiday: Stay Away
State Parks and county officials have joined city managers in coastal cities on the Central Coast to issue a message to would-be Labor Day visitors: Stay off our beaches.
Calling it an “unprecedented joint statement,” Nat Rojanasathira, Monterey’s assistant city manager, said that representatives from every city — from Carmel to Santa Cruz — intend to shut down beaches during the Labor Day holiday, So will the state Parks Department. County beaches in Santa Cruz will also close. The officials cite concern about the spread of COVID-19. Pending approval by elected leaders in each of the cities, the beaches will shut down from Sept. 5 to 7.
Many low income and middle class people have left California and moved to Texas, Arizona, Washington, Nevada, and Oregon, where the cost of living is more affordable.
Sweden had no lockdown and no masks and now has 0 deaths. Peru had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world and has had some of the most deaths.
After months of condemnation for no lockdown, Sweden’s #COVID deaths drop to near-zero Unlike many nations, Sweden NEVER shut down its schools or economy and did NOT restrict individual freedoms to nearly the degree seen in the United States and much of Europe.
SWEDEN's top coronavirus expert has described the use of face masks as "very dangerous" and is adamant that the country will not force people to wear them.
In Europe, “Hospital admissions for #Covid19 were over-reported at the peak of the pandemic, with patients who were taken in for other illnesses being included in outbreak statistics, it has emerged...”
Not every person who tests positive for #coronavirus is sick with COVID (defined as asymptomatic). If such a person dies they may be included as a COVID death which increases the death count, but this is not a COVID death. This point is missed by many and inflates the numbers.
Boost Your Health
There are lots of strategies to improve your immune system including vitamin D3, zinc, magnesium & others.
Eat the Rainbow. Supplements are intended to supplement your diet. They shouldn’t take the place of eating healthy foods, so taking them is not an excuse to avoid eating things like fresh veggies, fruits, healthy fats & quality proteins even if you’re taking the best supplements.
Raw garlic by itself has many potential health benefits because it contains Magnesium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin C. Allicin is the antioxidant in raw garlic that’s considered one of the most effective antioxidants found in the plant kingdom.
Garlic Is a Natural Antiviral. in addition to reducing high blood pressure, helping prevent diabetes and offering protection against cancer, garlic is active against a number of viruses, including flu, the common cold, HIV, herpes types I and II and rhinovirus.
Despite long-standing evidence that garlic has natural antiviral and antibacterial properties, some are diverting attention away from its use in helping prevent COVID-19, as they seek instead to concoct chemical solutions and pursue the development of a new rushed and unproven vaccine.
California Fires Burning Up Our State
California Governor Gavin Newsom reported that the state was battling 367 known fires, many sparked by intense thunderstorms on August 16–17 caused by moisture from Tropical Storm Fausto.
Inmates in prisons fight fires and get paid $1 an hour
A friend of a friend is in Monterey County jail. He was tested with COVID when they tested 67 inmates. They all came back positive. There have been protests because the prisoners were not getting proper medical attention. All they are given to eat are bologna sandwiches and watered down Gatorade. Her friend in prison has asked if he can fight fires since he was a fire fighter for six years. He is awaiting a response.
Brandi Kline
David N. Juliana
Two fires closest to where I live:
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has now issued an evacuation order for all areas east of Carmel Valley Road, north to Laureles Grade, east of Laureles Grade to Highway 68 to include areas west of San Benancio Road and the Corral de Tierra community. Leave the Area. #RiverFire
Monterey SPCA is not far from River fire, near Laureles Grace, San Benancio, off Highway 68, which has just been evacuated. They are sheltering 500+ critters who could not go with their owners, please pray they are all safe, thanks & donate if you can.
The #RiverFire is now more than 42,000 acres and the #CarmelFire is 5,069 acres. Hundreds of evacuations of people and 500+ critters (dogs, cats, goats, horses and more).
Richard Stedman with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District said the air quality from the #RiverFire and #CarmelFire might be the worst since his agency was established in the 1970s.
In the middle of fires, smoky/ashey air and a big orange sky. It looks like the end of the world outside. A friend of mine is hosting a woman who had to evacuate from Carmel Valley with four cats and one dog in her home in Seaside. Other friends in Salinas, Seaside and Prunedale say that the air is really bad outside and very hot inside. We had a few power outages, too.
Photos from a friend of a friend in Salinas
Don Watt, fire incident management team with Cal Fire: Crews are getting ready for the wind shift and possibility of dry lightning. They hope the winds will clear up the air. #RiverFire#CarmelFire
The latest smoke projection from the Experimental High-Resolution Rapid Refresh computer model depicts heavy smoke remaining over Central California tonight into Saturday. Air quality Saturday will be very unhealthy for everyone. Stay indoors if possible. #CAwx#Firewx
Two CDCR firefighters working with CAL FIRE on cleanup near Redding Drive in Salinas. "Sorry we couldn't save all the houses," another inmate firefighter told me in passing. "But we kept a few on the hill (near Trimble Hill Lane) from burning." #RiverFire
The Alba Schoolhouse was built in 1895, 2 miles above Ben Lomond in the Santa Cruz Mountains. #CZULightingComplex was completely destroyed.
I'm so saddened to hear about the devastation in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, CA's oldest state park. I love the park and found even the visitor center area as a place of serenity, beauty and peace. Let’s hope that most of the redwoods were able to survive the fire.
Vast majority of giant redwoods in center of Big Basin Redwoods State Park scorched but still standing.
Federal Response Needed
A total of 240 members of the National Guard should be ready to come out to help with California wildfires by the middle of next week. Another 240 members of the National Guard will start training at Camp Roberts when they are ready.
Evacuation orders and warnings are still in place across Northern California. My heart grieves for how devastating this is to so many. I urge everyone to listen to the advice and warnings from local officials, and remember to stay safe.
The escalation of fire activity across CA has resulted in an immense strain on CA’s resources and firefighting capabilities. CA is hard at work combating this emergency, but the size and scope of current fire activity demands assistance, coordination, and federal action now.
My California colleagues and I just wrote to President Trump, requesting full, fair, and timely consideration of the State of California’s request for a major disaster declaration as a result of several fires burning in the state.