I went out for a jog today, and I noticed a very smoky smell in the air. By the time I got halfway through my run, I could tell that it was affecting my breathing, burning my lungs. It was really hazy out, too. I had heard that a front was going to blow some smoke in from the fires out in West Texas, but I didn't think it would be that bad. We've been under red flag warning for weeks, we're under a burn ban, it's very warm, completely dry, and very windy. Texas is usually pretty windy all the time, but we've had 30-40 mph winds regularly over the past week or two.
When I got home, I checked the news. A wildfire had broken out near a subdivision in South Austin. Supposedly it was sparked in an area that has a homeless camp site. It quickly spread north and right into Scenic Brook subdivision. After a few hours, they brought in helicopters and finally 2 C130s to drop flame retardant material on the blaze. By the time they got it relatively (90%) contained, it burned 10 homes and damaged 10 others. They evacuated the whole subdivision, and they're still unable to return until it gets completely controlled.
The little blurb at the end of that article about another brush fire near Steiner Ranch - yeah, we live in Steiner Ranch. It would be a complete nightmare if they ever had to evacuate this neighborhood. There are 15,000 residents, and one main road by which to exit. It's bad enough when you're trying to get in/out during rush hours.
1 comment:
The Texas drought is forecast to get a lot worse before it gets better. It's going to be a long, scary summer for a lot of the state. It's even dry here, which is quite unusual. Just 50 miles inland, it's rained a lot, but here along the coast, the fronts just seem to fall apart as they pass over.
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