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Thursday, January 21, 2010

We Interrupt The Blog To Bring You This



First I want to thank everyone that has sent messages to inquire as to my well-being in the storms we are having here. Fortunately for me, nearly all the hilly areas around me are covered in concrete. In case you haven't been here - Los Angeles is very hilly, unlike say Orlando or Baltimore that are flat. My house is probably about 50 - 75 feet above sea level, but paved roads are between me and the coast as well as enough distance. There is, however, some natural hill behind the house that separates me from the neighbors. It is covered in ample brush that should keep it in place *fingers crossed*.

Others are not faring so well. For example, parts of La Canada Flintridge and San Pedro are under mandatory evacuation orders. You can read about specific evacuation instructions here.

For information about evacuations in the Los Angeles area call 3-1-1 if you're local or (800)439-2909.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is also on Twitter with updates throughout the day. The hashtag #LArain also has information and links for more resources (among the cancellation and closure gripes).

In the city of Long Beach you can sign up for road closure email alerts here. The 710 and 405 have been quite flooded in this area.

For news on the storm from Ventura County all the way to the Mexican border click here.

Also, I just want to put out there that if anyone is concerned about a loved one that is in the Culver City/Marina Del Rey/El Segundo/LAX area please don't hesitate to let me know. This is my daily travel circle and I'm happy to check on your grandmother if you're worried about her. I'm washable, have rain gear, and an SUV.

8 comments:

Mike said...

Thanks for posting. Every time I hear another evacuation report in SoCal I wonder if you're affected by it. It's bad enough when we have to worry that old San Andreas is gonna shrug her shoulders and you guys are gonna slide off into the ocean... now we gotta worry that the ocean's gonna turn the San Andreas into the Mariana Trench.

And yes, San Andreas is a she. Mother Nature, fury and a woman scorned, all that stuff. ;-D

Apryl DeLancey said...

Thanks for the concern Mike!

Oh, and Andreas is the Spanish name for Andy/Andrew so we always consider him male. Mother Nature is definitely female but certain forces of nature are of the male gender.

Check this out:
"A noted 19th century geologist, Andrew Lawson, gave the San Andreas (an-DRAY-us) Fault its name. In 1893, he had taken a steamer trip from San Diego to San Francisco, stopping off to examine coastal development at several places. He noted that geological features in San Benito and Santa Clara counties, as well as the San Francisco Bay valleys, were remarkably arranged in a line, and that the general uplift of the continental margin indicated geological
movements “that may yet be active.”

Lawson named the fault in 1895, when he noted that the fault features were typified by a straight valley on the San Francisco Peninsula that was occupied in part by San Andreas Lake (named by Father Francisco Palou, a Spanish missionary, on Saint Andrew’s Day, November 30, 1774). The correct Spanish name would be San AndrĂ©s, but the American corruption, “San Andreas,” has become rooted in the literature. San Andreas Lake today is occupied by one of two reservoirs that are major water storage units for the city of San Francisco."

Not that it really makes a difference since it is all weather!

Unknown said...

I am going to start naming stuff after ME..

Apryl DeLancey said...

Nice! I'll start by naming a surf spot after you. "The One-Eyed Break" and I'll upload a pic of it as soon as I find it!

Thanks for the idea Vince!

Mike said...

About the "One-Eyed Break"... did you mean after you found the picture or after you found the break? And are they lost in the surf?

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the number of women with men's names, such as Sidney. If the fault were male, it would not simply shake the ground for several seconds, but make several annoyingly long belches in a row, followed by a mocking voice asking, "Pull my finger again?"

Yes, it's my day to be cranky... the golf got rained out on TV. ;-)

Apryl DeLancey said...

Mike, don't ever change!

Oh, and after I find the break I will name it and then upload a pic!

Lindsay said...

Glad you are doing OK! Yikes! Very nice of you to offer to check on people.

Apryl DeLancey said...

Thanks for the concern.

I feel like I have a natural instinct to help, especially in any situation to do with water. I've had lifeguard and rescue diver training in the past so I can't help myself.