Wanna Relax, Unwind & Just Get Away?? Come Down to the California Disaster Relief Sites!!

Just had to hit the drum 3x's in honor of my mom, Mama Ivent!

She hooked me up on some info regarding the lifestyles of the rich & famous staying tres chic, even during times of devastation.

Assuming that my mom (God bless her!) had received erroneous information, I did what all good bloggers do. I googled her information!

Needless to say, she was right...again.

Read and take a peek into the world of affluence, as they still have the comforts of home, without bureaucratic red tape, no delays in receiving relief, and no one sleeping in arenas, streets or dead people laying out in the open for all to see!

*sorry, poor people in Louisiana-don't take it personal!*

Question: Would citizens of South-Central Cali receive this type of relief if L.A., Inglewood etc burned down, or would they receive the same treatment that's similar to the poor residents of Louisiana??

Read the story below:

Acupuncture and massage help the victims of a very Californian disaster
source

Massages, acupuncture and stress counseling are being offered to around 10,000 wildfire evacuees gathering at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego — along with Starbucks coffee, beef empanadas and fresh Caesar salads.

There are stacks of magazines, free telephone calls to anywhere in the United States, toys for the children and entertainment provided by a live blues band. A local pizza restaurant’s donation of food has been turned down because there is already too much to eat.

“The people are happy. They have everything here,” said the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, after touring the site. “Nobody does disasters better than California,” agreed David Paulison, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

It is all a long way from the scenes inside another stadium — the Superdome in New Orleans — two years ago when thousands sheltered from the floods of Hurricane Katrina for several days without proper food or water supplies, sanitation or government assistance.


The fires consuming hundreds of thousands of acres in southern California coincided with heavy rainfall this week in New Orleans which overwhelmed the drainage and pumping system and left some streets under water for the first time since Katrina.

Charmaine Marchand, the Louisiana state representative for the Lower Ninth ward in New Orleans — which was hit hardest by the hurricane — was amazed when told of the care available to displaced Californians yesterday.

“Some of my constituents could certainly have done with a massage a couple of years ago,” she said.

The wildfires, which have forced the evacuation of at least 500,000 people including a clutch of Hollywood celebrities, are the biggest emergency America has faced since.

Ms Marchand yesterday suggested that the difference was that it was happening in one of the wealthiest corners of America, rather than one of the poorest. “I guess the fact that California is such a rich state — and a Republican-run state — is a big factor in the help being offered to them,” she said.

President Bush’s Administration, heavily criticised for responding slowly and incompetently to Katrina, is hoping to demonstrate it has learnt from mistakes made in the previous disaster.

Mr Bush has cancelled his engagements so that he can fly to California today to “witness first-hand what people are going through,” said aides. Two years ago, in a cataclysmic public relations catastrophe he was photographed gazing imperiously down from Air Force One at Katrina’s floods as he belatedly returned to Washington from his holiday. In contrast yesterday, after receiving updates on the battle to control the wildfires at an emergency cabinet meeting, he said: “I believe the effort is well-coordinated I know we’re getting the manpower and assets on the ground that have been requested by the state and local governments.”

The President added that he had told Mr Schwarzenegger that “if he needs anything and we’re able to provide it, we will do so”. He has signed a disaster declaration for California which puts in motion long-term federal recovery programmes to help California and some of the estimated 1,500 people who have lost their homes in the fires.

“Americans all across this land care deeply about them,” Mr Bush said, “we’re concerned about their safety. We’re concerned about their property.”

Mr Paulison appeared on a succession of morning television yesterday to emphasise there would be no repeat of the Katrina experience — when “things didn’t run so smoothly” — saying: “This is a new FEMA.”

The White House press secretary, Dana Perino, said: “We have learnt those lessons and those lessons are being applied. There’s increased co-ordination and communication and earlier communication and co-ordination between the federal, state and local governments.”

In New Orleans yesterday, Ms Marchand said the real test “would be the aftermath of the fires when people tried to rebuild”. Thousands of people from New Orleans were still living in FEMA trailers and many more had been unable to obtain compensation for the loss of their homes. “I don’t think FEMA has learnt any lessons. If they had, New Orleans would not still be in the situation we find ourselves in now.”

(image courtesy, Google Images)

It's "M.M Monday" and The 'Bu is On Fire!

Wildfires sweep across Southern Calif.
source


MALIBU, Calif. - From the high desert to the Pacific Ocean, out-of-control wildfires engulfed swaths of drought-parched Southern California, claiming one life, destroying several homes and a church in Malibu, and forcing an entire community to evacuate.


Thousands more homes remained at risk as hot, dry Santa Ana desert winds continued to churn into the region early Monday.

Firefighters started the weekend on high alert as forecasters warned of strong winds. But by Sunday night, they had to admit they were overwhelmed.

"You do not expect something to stretch our resources to this magnitude," Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Sam Padilla said. "To try and staff something this big, you cannot predict it."

The Malibu fire was among about a dozen blazes that burned more than 35,000 acres from north of Santa Barbara to San Diego. Late Sunday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven Southern California counties.

One person died in the fire near San Diego, which burned more than 14,000 acres — or about 22 square miles — about 70 miles southeast of San Diego, just north of the Mexican border town of Tecate, California Department of Forestry spokesman Matt Streck said. Details were not immediately available.

Four firefighters and at least 10 other people were hospitalized, Streck said. Some of the injured were hikers, and others may be illegal immigrants.

Another blaze devoured more than 5,000 acres in northern San Diego County and forced the evacuation of the community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000.

Several structures were burned on the edge of town and sheriff's deputies called residents to alert them the fire was approaching the city, said San Diego sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust.

In Malibu, about 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills. About 1,500 people were evacuated and the blaze destroyed a church and several homes, one of them the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.

No residents or firefighters were injured, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said.

The castle belonged to Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of a former Iranian oil minister. She said she was able to gather a few things before the fire engulfed her home, including some jewelry and memorabilia that included Elvis Presley's Army fatigues.

She didn't seem too worried about losing most of her belongings in the fire.

"My parents taught me not to allow my possessions to posses me," Lawrence told KABC-TV. "So, that's the story. The house is a house."

Winds carried embers across the Pacific Coast Highway, closing the popular road and setting fire to cars and trees in the parking lot of a shopping center where a supermarket, drug store and other shops were damaged.

"This fire is zero percent contained, which means we're at the mercy of the wind," acting Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said Sunday.

In all, five homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed lost throughout the Malibu area, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said. Nine more homes were damaged, he said.

The fire is expected to burn for another two to three days, he said. Until the blaze is extinguished, "there will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened at one time or another," he said.

The fire may have been started by downed power lines, Capt. Mike Brown said.

"This is a conflagration we knew was going to come at some point," Los Angeles County Zen Yaroslavsky said at a Malibu press conference Sunday, noting Southern California's ongoing dry spell. "We were cruising for a bruising. We are very, very lucky as we stand here tonight that the damage has been as limited as it has been."

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Though Malibu, CA is the land of the rich and famous (infamous),

Losing your home, and things of sentimental value is still devastating.

I pray that these people insurance premiums are up to date,

and all turns out well for them.