Tag archives: disaster
Thirty years ago this coming April, FEMA-Certified Canine Search Specialist Wilma Melville and her black lab Murphy spent a week rummaging through the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma. What stood out was just how few other rescue dogs were on site to search for survivors. When Melville realized only […]
On March 8, ShelterBox USA hosted an event at UC Investments property on Ortega Hill in Summerland with more than 80 attendees to celebrate International Women’s Day and recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The international nonprofit organization, which provides emergency shelter and essential tools and supplies to vulnerable people affected […]
I’ve long thought the most important and interesting work being done in Santa Barbara County, by far, is taking place in the nonprofit realm. I cannot think of a stronger example than the critical work currently being done by ShelterBox, which annually helps provide emergency shelter and essential items to more than 400,000 displaced people […]
Exactly five years ago on this day, I was working with The Partnership for Resilient Communities (TPRC) to help develop a plan to contain Montecito’s occasional debris flows. Since a lot of folks are relatively new to Montecito, now is a particularly poignant time to look back at where we’ve come from, what’s been achieved […]
Once more into the breach, dear friends. Five years ago, our beloved community was targeted by a series of wildfires and mudslides that caused severe damage to our businesses and residents, including loss of life. And now we again find ourselves at the mercy of Mother Nature with rain and mud once more impacting our […]
With the highway closures after the recent storm, losing access to those major roadways can make one feel isolated and trapped. But for the few living deep in the back country, that sensation can only compound with limited roads to get in and out of the area. This was the situation that Bryon and Deborah […]
I’m sure I’m not alone in being relieved that our community did not have to be evacuated during the storm this past weekend. Still, I was on pins and needles wondering whether that scary alarm would suddenly come blaring from my phone, informing me it was time to pile my family, my dogs, and a […]
It’s been a wet and wild week in Montecito and much of Santa Barbara County, as unrelenting rainstorms came through the region, prompting two mandatory evacuations since January 4. The storm earlier this week, coming on the heels of over 20 inches of rain in the last 30 days, caused significant flooding and mudflow, but […]
In my end-of-year letter, I wrote about my habitual January dread. Or as I sometimes like to call it, Janu-scary. And then January 9th reared its ugly head. Again. The coincidence of Mother Nature’s repeat performance was, to say the least, eerie. Let’s just say this is one time I didn’t enjoy being prescient. As […]
This coming Monday, January 9, marks the five-year anniversary of the Debris Flow in Montecito of 2018. We lost 23 community members in that disaster. Houses were obliterated, roads were covered in mud, and first responders – on active duty since the Thomas Fire broke out on December 4, 2017 – scrambled to evacuate people […]
ShelterBox’s reason for being is because human displacement is one of the biggest issues plaguing our planet, one that’s increasing as time goes on. Over the last year, the nonprofit reports, the number of people displaced due to conflicts, natural disasters, or the consequences of climate change has grown to 113 million people, a staggering […]
Susan Venable can’t help but get choked up a bit, as the mental images that come from weeks of helping clear out other people’s homes amid natural tragedy are something that will stick with her for the rest of her life. As an artist, the Montecito Debris Flow was chockful of visual reminders, but none […]
The serenity of the South Coast provides a sense of security that the next major disaster is unlikely to happen here. Yet, we only need to look a few pages back in our local history to know the potential for disaster in our quaint community is significant. Preparedness is a formidable and proactive defense to […]
In case you’ve never heard of a ShelterBox, it’s a big green box filled with lifesaving items for families the world over who have lost their homes due to a disaster. The ShelterBox headquarters are right here in Santa Barbara. They recently had a virtual fundraiser, livestreamed, and raised more than $250,000. Since 2000, ShelterBox […]
The buildings have emptied at 101 Innovation Place – the QAD campus atop Ortega Hill – but the staff of five and volunteers at ShelterBox, the global non-profit whose U.S. staff normally does their good deeds from the building that once housed the original Josten’s college ring manufacturing facility, are spreading a little recipe love […]
Every minute twenty people are forcibly displaced, driven by conflict to flee their homes.” There is an organization called ShelterBox located both here and Florida which since 2000 has sought to help. John McGovern opened his Summerland home and gardens to the group to promote and make local folks aware of their work. Tequila and […]
ShelterBox, the Santa Barbara-based charity, has had its hands full of late with a whole slew of global disasters, most recently in the Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian. More than 250 guests turned out at the Summerland estate of John McGovern for a sunset fundraiser, which garnered around $250,000 for the 19-year-old nonprofit, which has responded […]
A year and a half after fire, flood, and mud – and after seven years of extreme drought – the “disaster watch” seems to have receded in 2019. Gentle rains have nearly ended – leaving behind a profusion of May flowers and a greater sense of wellbeing for both community residents and visitors. Never has […]
At the February 20th hearing of the Montecito Planning Commission, Planning & Development Deputy Director of Development Jeff Wilson gave a brief report on the status of rebuilding in Montecito following the Thomas Fire and 1/9 debris flow. Wilson reported that 323 disaster cases were opened post mudflow, with 70% of those property owners having […]
In anticipation of last week’s evacuations and storms, volunteers from MERRAG, the Montecito Emergency Response and Recovery Action Group, were in the upper village hosting a kiosk with storm and evacuation information, keeping residents informed on emergency preparedness. This was the second time this year that they manned the kiosk to inform residents about potentially […]
