| | Opinion
Kathryn Mackenzie
A few weeks ago, I started thinking back to February 2017 when I heard that an atmospheric river storm was heading straight for the Monterey Bay area.
Still, as we navigated the recent parade of intense systems, I vividly remembered other terrifying years: 1995, when the roads were flooded and cars nearly got stuck trying to get home.And 1982. , 25 inches of rain in 3 days in the Santa Cruz Mountains Thirty-one people died, mostly in large mudslides.
This time I made up my mind. Like many of our neighbors in North Monterey County, we have a generator. I bought canned stews and sausages that can be easily heated by fire if needed. We piled up firewood, tarped, changed lantern batteries, and crouched down.
Still, when I looked at the daily weather forecast, it was a surprise to me that it would rain for days and days. We’ve just passed through our eighth river storm. Since Christmas. Drying and cleaning is currently underway.
Expanding
We are adapting and evolving to new weather realities and will continue to evolve to meet the challenges. How much adaptation is enough, and what are the future consequences of such behavior?
Sure, we can prepare our home. But preparing as a society is much more difficult.Government moves slowly, struggling to keep up with rapid change and ongoing climate crisis scientists say It is the result of human-induced climate change. Unfortunately, whenever a disaster strikes, billions of dollars are siphoned off to deal with the aftermath rather than building for the storms to come.
No matter how much you prepare, you are limited in what you can do. You can’t prepare for everything or predict what will happen. It leaves us all feeling helpless.
Unfortunately, whenever a disaster strikes, billions of dollars are siphoned off to deal with the aftermath rather than building for the storms to come.
Whenever these very wet and stormy seasons come to California, there’s no getting away from the physics. The ground absorbs that amount of water. And in years like ours, the resulting runoff is massive, rushing down rivers and streams and flooding all low-lying areas. Trillions of gallons of water falling from the sky blow our little reserves to pieces.
Until this week, the Monterey Bay Area had been completely demolished. Floods, landslides and fallen trees have closed major roads. Nearby beaches and piers are smashed by raging waves. Branches of trees became entangled in overhead wires, causing power outages over large areas. Hundreds of people in shelters were anxiously waiting for their homes.
Of course, it’s not just this region that will be affected. This happened statewide as the storm hit. millions of people had received flood warningstens of thousands of people had to be evacuated and hundreds of thousands without access to electricity.
Expanding
Now the storm has passed and there are new challenges. Estimated $50 million in losses in Monterey County, and at least that’s it in Santa Cruz County. Agriculture has been hit hard, with irrigation systems and other necessary infrastructure for fields destroyed. Delays in planting rice lead to economic losses not only for farms, but also for farm workers and other workers who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Droughts and deluges have always been part of California’s history. My husband, Glenn Church, is a Christmas tree farmer who was recently elected county superintendent of our district.
His father started the farm in 1959 and relied on growing Douglas fir and Monterey pine. The pines are still doing well, but the firs are suffering due to less rain and warmer temperatures than his 60 years ago. In years of severe drought they are sparse and stunted. Hot days can literally burn needles. Instead of planting as many firs as before, we are turning to hardy, drought-tolerant species such as Arizona cypress and incense cedar. We water all trees regularly, which is also a change from the past.
This is just a small microcosm of the changes we are all seeing, whether we are aware of it or not. Droughts are getting hotter and more intense. Storms are getting wetter and more intense, extreme wet seasons like this are becoming more frequent. More people, more infrastructure, more systems we rely on can easily mess things up.
It seems that normal rainy years are rare anymore. It is feast or famine, drought or deluge. And during dry years we seem to forget how bad wet years are.
Expanding
I hope our state and local politicians look to the future and plan to proactively address the effects of extreme weather before they occur. And at the community level, we can all do our part to help those in need.
Last weekend, I went door to door with a group of volunteers in Pajaro, where the Pajaro River had flooded before. We handed out flyers in English and Spanish to inform people of the impending storm and prepare for evacuation. Some were skeptical that floods would actually occur. Some worry about leaving their homes empty, inviting potential break-ins. But there were also people who listened and thanked us for our information.
In the face of nature’s fury, we may feel helpless. But do not despair. When we come together as a community, we have taken the first step towards resilience.
Expanding
Do you have anything to say about this story?send us letter.
Support non-commercial journalism 
Get Free Weekly Newsletter
