Changing Winds Mean Changing Evacuations

For many Southlanders the fire situation is getting better. Evacuation orders have been cancelled for Carlsbad, Del Mar and Encinitas, cities along the San Diego County coast. The reason is the declining offshore winds have quit pushing the fires toward the Pacific.

However, as the offshore winds give way to the normal onshore winds, areas in the eastern part of San Diego County may find themselves in the way of the fire. Evacuation warnings have now been given to the mountain community of Julian which so far has been spared. Another fire which started in a home on an Indian reservation is burning up the side of Palomar Mountain, and onshore winds will only accelerate that fire's growth. A major Christian camp that I used to handle sits on top of that mountain.

Disaster experts are estimating that as many as 1 million people have been evacuated, making this the largest movement of a civilian population since the Civil War. It's not over yet, but the weather is starting to cooperate.