#332: After the Floods
A couple weeks back, our wonderful friend and community member, Stephanie Jacobs, shared a piece with us that she was happy for me to also share with the CFC Writing Circle. It is a highly reflective, insightful, and thought-provoking read that left me thinking more about what community truly means as well as the powerful forces of Mother Nature, and the decisions and roles in which we play in caring for one another and also for the natural world, especially during times of crisis or change. Thank you Steph, for taking the time to write about your personal experience and ponderings, and for your willingness for this powerful contribution to be shared widely with us all.
- Amanda
After the Floods
As I started to write this, Marine One carrying the President had just passed by my log-strewn beach as he surveyed the millions of dollars of damage caused by a succession of atmospheric rivers. In Santa Cruz County where I live, it is destruction of a biblical proportion: flooding, mudslides and destruction of piers, businesses and homes. Layers of toxic sludge now cover some of the most productive farmland in the country.
Twin Lakes Beach, Santa Cruz County.
(Not my home above)
In comparison, I’m grateful that my little neighborhood “Twin Lakes” fared favorably. Leaking roofs, overflowing storm drains, minimal loss of power and while roads were closed when our lagoon overflowed, the water - for the most part - stayed out of houses.
But the last four four weeks have given us pause and I wanted to reflect, in my 60 seconds, on a few recurrent thoughts.
Resilience & the Arc of Climate
No shit: are people resilient! Barely had the storms passed when the cleanup and rebuilding started. The owner of Zelda’s, the Capitola Esplanade watering hole you may have seen amidst its wreckage, put it this way: “We’re missing walls, windows and a floor, but other than that we’re ready to go.’
That’s the first reaction of most here on the Central Coast but a few, with a greater appreciation of history and climate change are suggesting a less gung-ho and more nuanced response. State Senator John Laird, formerly the Mayor of Santa Cruz and long-time environmental leader, cautioned “there’s going to be tough decisions. Tough decisions in Capitola, all along West Cliff, tough decisions involving the pier by the (cement) ship.”
When the hundred-year flood becomes an every-other year event, it’s time to temper the urge to rebuild with a more considered “should we rebuild?” New York and Staten Island went through the heart wrenching process after Irene & Sandy. Now that a historic drought has been succeeded by even more historic rains perhaps it’s time to hit pause on the Golden State’s automatic rebuild button.
Community
The response from business and volunteers has been amazing. When a tributary of the Pajaro flooded part of a senior citizen development, neighbors and volunteers stepped up while the local government got its act together. Even PG&E, the much-maligned power and gas utility, mustered hundreds of crews to repair lines brought down by winds and the (still) falling trees. The sometimes sharp differences between neighbors melted in the face of the common threat.
The duty to help one’s neighbor and being a part of this community expanded our generosity greatly. But how long will this amity last? What is elastic during disasters seems to snap back as we forget the sense of urgency that we shared such a short time ago.
Blaming the victims has already started here. Can’t we slow down the clock and retard the shrinking of the circle encompassing our newly expanded community? Can we pause before we retreat to our previous tribalism?
Cynicism and Humility
For years, a sure-fire joke has been the answer to the question: “What is the scariest line in the English language.” The answer, of course, is “I’m from the Federal Government and I’m here to help.”
And yet:
Whatever one’s feelings about the missteps of Washington, having the Government’s resources in disaster management, to jump-start the recovery process and to open the Federal spigots is deeply reassuring to people here on the Central Coast.
The latest fight in Congress, finding another trove of classified documents and this week’s round of inflationary figures may well be the news of the day. But here in Santa Cruz it is a time to be thankful for the power of the Federal Government.
The government will pay for the recovery: Grants, loans, flood-control projects all with a renewed urgency. So the logs and debris on my beach will be gone. The collapsed sidewalk where I walk to gaze at the wonders of the Monterey Bay will be rebuilt. But on Saturday, when I saw a construction crew removing yet another leaning tree that was poised to crush anyone driving beneath it, my final thought was the cautionary words of one of UCSC’s Earth Sciences experts. Professor Gary Griggs says simply: “Mother Nature always wins.” “Always.”