Daybreak in SD

Well, it's daybreak. I've been averaging about 4 hours sleep these past couple of nights. I've been watching TV until bedtime, then listen to the radio until I'm about to drop off, then when I wake up in the middle of the night, have been checking the radio for any updates. This time I wasn't able to get back to sleep, so began updating this blog at 5 a.m.

Besides KPBS, I've been listening to another radio station. Someone there said that as much land has been burnt in San Diego County is equivalent to the entire island of Oahu in Hawaii. It was said that 68,000 homes are in danger of being lost. They were saying that more people have been displaced in San Diego County than the number of people displaced during Katrina.

I've noticed most of the newscasters are coughing from the smoke they've breathed in--even if they're inside the studio giving the news. I just heard that I-5 northbound is reopened, but it wasn't confirmed for southbound traffic.

I'm listening now to a briefing by Mayor Jerry Sanders. He has been telling of evacuation areas being lifted, where people can return to their homes (if their homes exist, that is!). One of the areas mentioned is where a friend lives, so maybe I will get a reply to my email. I've written several friends in North County, but hardly any replies, since most have had to evacuate.

Last night I read several articles on how those outside the area are covering San Diego's fire. San Jose's Mercury News gave a good article on what's been going on at Qualcomm Stadium. http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7262836?nclick_check=1.

Also, here's a map courtesy of KPBS and Google. Google allows people to adapt maps and KPBS added to the Google map of the area to show where the fires are, evacuation sites, etc. Map of San Diego County. If you enlarge the map, it doesn't look so much as if all the fires are in one place. I live at the 163/805 crossing, so you can see how I am in relation to all this.