(With expanded coverage of all the Western States)
by Patrick Ruckert
www.californiadroughtupdate.org/20230817-California-Water-and-Infrastructure-Report.pdf
A Note to Readers
The two main stories this week are the killer fire in Hawaii, and an announcement by the Bureau of Reclamation on management of the Colorado River.
Following the U.S. Drought Monitor map, which shows little change from last week, as the drought conditions, though, do intensify, both the big run-off from last winters storms have begun to fade away, and fires in California have begun. A couple of articles are included on those topics.
While Hawaii is outside the area of our usual coverage, this unique fire and the press coverage accompanying it, require my coverage and comments. In 2018 the Camp Fire in California that wiped out the town of Paradise and killed 85 people, has similarities to the conditions of the fire that has killed at least 110 people. One article that makes that comparison directly is included below.
Here I will include what I wrote as an introduction to that section of this report:
The Hawaii Disaster: Reality vs Rumors and Fantasy
The best analysis of the cause of the fire that has, as of this writing 110 deaths and destroyed the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii, is from atmospherica scientist Cliff Mass. He provides a weekly weather forecast for the Pacific Northwest, details current and future weather topics, and discusses related topics. His podcast is released every Friday at 9am.
This section begins with Mass’s analysis of the cause of the disaster. Further articles cited focus on some of the areas that have been discredited by facts. Obviously this report is not thorough, and next week I will provide an update.
Some of the wild claims published in the general media include, climate change is the major cause, and that the disaster and deaths could have been prevented had the town’s alarm warning system been activated.
What both ignore is the unique weather conditions that made the fire as bad as it was and that the speed of the fires spread, due to winds up to 80 mph, turned the fire into a hurricane-like environment where the fire spread through the town at more than a mile a minute. It was inescapable.
The most absurd claims about the fire, posted on face book and other sites, include the claim that the globalists planned the fire in order to promote the agenda of the World Economic Forum to create 15 minute cities. Ironically, Lahaina is one of the cities on their list. But now, forget it. It will take at least 20 years to rebuild it.
Here are the headlines of even more absurd claims. Just the headlines, as they are too stupid to provide the link to: “Maui had a firebug on the loose and a fancy warning system that didn’t work: Hawaii governor blames global warming;” Mauri Directed Energy Weapon assault, like 9/11, Paradise, Ca, Malibu and Boulder fires;”
As a former forest fighter myself, I have seen such fires come over the ridge at my crew, with flames as high as 40 feet and moving not only very fast, but throwing sparks over our heads for several hundred yards, starting new fires behind us. We were lucky, we were able to outrun that fire, but run we did.
The disaster is the deadliest wildfire in modern American history, and only about one-third of the burn area has been searched, and more than 1,000 people are still not accounted for. The death toll already surpasses the 85 killed in the Camp fire that wiped out the town of Paradise in California in 2018.
The second article in this section is from Michael Shellenberger on his Substack page (unfortunately behind a pay wall). His article, for me, is, like the one from Cliff Mass, demonstrates the most credible of all those I include in the section. His article is titled: “Renewables Mania And Woke Dogma Behind Hawaii Fire, Not Climate Change.”
The fifth article below, while focused on climate change bullshit, does provide some important material. I only include that material in my excerpt from the article.
Of course, the Biden administration continues to send billions and billions to Ukraine and has pledged a mere $700 million to the victims of the fire. Note: The average price of a home in the town is $1.5 million. It is also reported that the federal government will give $700 to each household as they, I am sure, will be exhausted in just a few days for those who have lost their homes, vehicles, and all possessions.
A couple more articles are also included in this section.
The final section highlights the recent action by the Bureau of Reclamation on the Colorado River. The article is titled, “The Federal Bureau of Reclamation Announces Reduced Water Cuts for Colorado River States.”
