Palisades Fire - Los Angeles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Person from Malibu here. Some of the tips for evacuating here are just laughable? Packing boxes of Christmas ornaments? Really?

In bad wildfires, you want to be out as soon as possible after the evacuation call. It's not just traffic you are worried about in this situation-- You do not want to get stuck when the fire reaches the road or get trapped when visibility becomes so poor from smoke you can't drive safely, or when the high winds knock trees into the road. Look at the people trying to flee the Camp Fire who were killed in Paradise, CA. This is particularly critical in these fire zones because many neighborhoods that are in the hills of CA are one-way-in/one-way-out due to the geography so waiting too long can result in being trapped.

If you have time to do one thing, shut off the gas to your house before you flee. This could prevent some damage to your home by reducing the risk of an explosion, or from a gas line that continues to burn. You should also shut off electricity, but a lot of times the electricity is already turned off due to high winds.

I thought that was so ridiculous too (person from Ventura who didn't have much time to evacuate before Thomas fire came over the hill into our neighborhood within minutes). Along with - call friend with a trailer. How f'd up is that as people are frantically trying to evacuate an area, your friend is going to be driving into the neighborhood with a big *ss trailer. We were too busy running around at midnight banging on neighbors doors to make sure everyone was awake so they could evacuate.

How many times do I have to explain this? After our first evacuation with no plans and in total panic I reorganized and rearranged some things in my home. I am not telling people to pack whatever their precious items are during evacuation. I have a prioritized list of pre packed items and depending on time we could walk out with nothing, our 2 minute box, or some additional things. I don’t call my friend with a trailer. I explained that too. I have prepacked a FEW Christmas ornaments. I have prepacked a few pieces of family china and crystal that are 200 years old. I have a way to quickly pack clothes, studies.[b] The whole plan exists to remove having to think and make decisions so you can get out quickly, hopefully with some of your family’s things, before the order, and the only thing you have to think about is the fire or other disaster that’s causing you to evacuate. I also posted about coordinating and planning with neighbors.

I have and am supporting my friends who lost literally everything and the level of trauma is extremely high. For the kids it’s almost unbearable.

I’ve basically reached the conclusion that it is impossible to have constructive conversations on DCUM because inevitably people start attacking you after failing to actually read the post and just make crap up.[/b]

NP and I am sorry people are being so rude to you, especially since you have experienced an evacuation (and more than once if I remember correctly from you original post). Someone asked you what you've done to plan ahead, and you shared. You did not present it as a directive to others and clearly stated what you packed was important to you - others may choose something else or approach the whole situation differently. You also made it clear you have things set based on the amount of time you have to evacuate. I thought it was helpful and an interesting perspective. I have not experienced an evacuation and appreciated your post.

Evacuated 3x 😬
Thanks to you and other PPs. I don’t know why the rudeness is getting to me so much!

I was also one who had said that I’m thankful to you for the very detailed post! Totally understood what you meant about the few pieces of Christmas ornaments, China etc. it’s what is sentimental and valuable to *you*, and made me think about what we would have a hard time recovering from, if anything (since I’m very practical minded), if it was lost… and you put it so well actually! I’ve evacuated before, but not from fire. It’s more terrifying. The trauma can be significant, even if we are all resilient enough to manage losing “just stuff” - of course it’s not the same as losing lives and pets - everyone understands that… but why not think ahead and be smart about it, if you can. For some, we may strictly think practical about what will we truly and immediately need, and what needs to be digitalized and everything else can be replaced if needs be… or we will cope with what cannot be replaced. All these posts have been insightful and valuable to me.

I’m sorry you had to go through this 3x already!

Thank you❤️
Like a lot of families we were ready for a house fire or other GTFO this minute scenarios. We have X-it ladders, meeting places, all of that stuff. It’s really different and not something we ever contemplated: what if you have a little bit of time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Person from Malibu here. Some of the tips for evacuating here are just laughable? Packing boxes of Christmas ornaments? Really?

In bad wildfires, you want to be out as soon as possible after the evacuation call. It's not just traffic you are worried about in this situation-- You do not want to get stuck when the fire reaches the road or get trapped when visibility becomes so poor from smoke you can't drive safely, or when the high winds knock trees into the road. Look at the people trying to flee the Camp Fire who were killed in Paradise, CA. This is particularly critical in these fire zones because many neighborhoods that are in the hills of CA are one-way-in/one-way-out due to the geography so waiting too long can result in being trapped.

If you have time to do one thing, shut off the gas to your house before you flee. This could prevent some damage to your home by reducing the risk of an explosion, or from a gas line that continues to burn. You should also shut off electricity, but a lot of times the electricity is already turned off due to high winds.

I thought that was so ridiculous too (person from Ventura who didn't have much time to evacuate before Thomas fire came over the hill into our neighborhood within minutes). Along with - call friend with a trailer. How f'd up is that as people are frantically trying to evacuate an area, your friend is going to be driving into the neighborhood with a big *ss trailer. We were too busy running around at midnight banging on neighbors doors to make sure everyone was awake so they could evacuate.

How many times do I have to explain this? After our first evacuation with no plans and in total panic I reorganized and rearranged some things in my home. I am not telling people to pack whatever their precious items are during evacuation. I have a prioritized list of pre packed items and depending on time we could walk out with nothing, our 2 minute box, or some additional things. I don’t call my friend with a trailer. I explained that too. I have prepacked a FEW Christmas ornaments. I have prepacked a few pieces of family china and crystal that are 200 years old. I have a way to quickly pack clothes, studies.[b] The whole plan exists to remove having to think and make decisions so you can get out quickly, hopefully with some of your family’s things, before the order, and the only thing you have to think about is the fire or other disaster that’s causing you to evacuate. I also posted about coordinating and planning with neighbors.

I have and am supporting my friends who lost literally everything and the level of trauma is extremely high. For the kids it’s almost unbearable.

I’ve basically reached the conclusion that it is impossible to have constructive conversations on DCUM because inevitably people start attacking you after failing to actually read the post and just make crap up.[/b]

NP and I am sorry people are being so rude to you, especially since you have experienced an evacuation (and more than once if I remember correctly from you original post). Someone asked you what you've done to plan ahead, and you shared. You did not present it as a directive to others and clearly stated what you packed was important to you - others may choose something else or approach the whole situation differently. You also made it clear you have things set based on the amount of time you have to evacuate. I thought it was helpful and an interesting perspective. I have not experienced an evacuation and appreciated your post.

Evacuated 3x 😬
Thanks to you and other PPs. I don’t know why the rudeness is getting to me so much!

I was also one who had said that I’m thankful to you for the very detailed post! Totally understood what you meant about the few pieces of Christmas ornaments, China etc. it’s what is sentimental and valuable to *you*, and made me think about what we would have a hard time recovering from, if anything (since I’m very practical minded), if it was lost… and you put it so well actually! I’ve evacuated before, but not from fire. It’s more terrifying. The trauma can be significant, even if we are all resilient enough to manage losing “just stuff” - of course it’s not the same as losing lives and pets - everyone understands that… but why not think ahead and be smart about it, if you can. For some, we may strictly think practical about what will we truly and immediately need, and what needs to be digitalized and everything else can be replaced if needs be… or we will cope with what cannot be replaced. All these posts have been insightful and valuable to me.

I’m sorry you had to go through this 3x already!

Original evacuation-plan poster, thank you! I appreciated your post a great deal. It was helpful to consider what are my items to pack a way if I were to have time.

[Anonymous]

Californians are already going after other Californians. No need to make up drama about what people in TX or FL thik. People looking for housing are reporting price gouging and bidding wars over long term rentals. Very low inventory, which is typical. People are wasting no time to profiting off the tragedy of others. Right in California.

[Anonymous]

A man joyous at finding his dog alive.

https://youtu.be/tJN5xjJ4riQ?si=60N2QCBYwCIHPg6-

[Anonymous]

California strong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CA will go RED going forward. It's just time and necessary. Either that, or just let it go...

Californian here. I’ve thought that for awhile (there is a lot of frustration with Democrats here), but the deep anger here at the Republicans who are attacking people who have lost their homes may have interrupted that process. There is a lot of media coverage of those folks and people here are furious, especially because no California politicians tried to target the victims of hurricanes in a similar way.

What people are doing this though? I've only seen a couple examples.

There has been a few links posted in this thread. And it may only be a few Republicans attacking the victims of the fires but links about what they are saying and doing are flying around here, even from people who don’t like Democrats. The behavior is so extreme and cruel that it’s getting a lot of airplay.

There are also rumors claiming that red state folks were cheering for the fires during moments of silence at football games. Californians may be a lot of things, but there are no stories of them cheering for hurricanes during moments of silence for hurricane victims. I’m not even sure that it’s true that red state football fans were cheering during moments of silence but I’ve now seen the claim made a couple of places so the rumors are flying.

Prior to this, I thought that California would go red, because people are so deeply frustrated with the progressive left, but the anger at Republicans who are victim-blaming (while not victim-blaming hurricane victims) is palpable and I am not so sure now.

I just really resent this type of talk as I am in a red state and don't know a single person feeling remotely happy about fires. I am in a couple very large facebook groups for weather/hurricane info, and people feel absolutely terrible and have compassion and want to help. There is a lot of incentive to polarize and divide rather than look at all the people supporting others.

I live in NC, near Asheville, and just went through the Helene devastation. We actually lost our home. After the storm, for a week or more, there was no decent cell service in our region, and almost no one had wifi wither. At least in our neighborhood, people were so banded together during that time, helping each other all day every day. I think it was that way through much of the region. As soon as cell service was back, all the disinformation and politicization started up, and the level of camaraderie was immediately impacted - the tone immediately changed - at a micro level, on the ground, it went from "we're all in this together" to "did you hear that Trump/Biden/FEMA said _________" and the party was over. It was SO eye opening, and sad, and made it feel really apparent how years ago individuals from different parties could work together toward common goals, and how much now we're inundated and affected by what we hear on our partisan news stations and, worse, social media. On a larger scale, of course people are still helping people here, but at the micro level, there was this moment of utopian community action, and it was dispelled instantly by cell service the moment it came back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CA will go RED going forward. It's just time and necessary. Either that, or just let it go...

Californian here. I’ve thought that for awhile (there is a lot of frustration with Democrats here), but the deep anger here at the Republicans who are attacking people who have lost their homes may have interrupted that process. There is a lot of media coverage of those folks and people here are furious, especially because no California politicians tried to target the victims of hurricanes in a similar way.

What people are doing this though? I've only seen a couple examples.

There has been a few links posted in this thread. And it may only be a few Republicans attacking the victims of the fires but links about what they are saying and doing are flying around here, even from people who don’t like Democrats. The behavior is so extreme and cruel that it’s getting a lot of airplay.

There are also rumors claiming that red state folks were cheering for the fires during moments of silence at football games. Californians may be a lot of things, but there are no stories of them cheering for hurricanes during moments of silence for hurricane victims. I’m not even sure that it’s true that red state football fans were cheering during moments of silence but I’ve now seen the claim made a couple of places so the rumors are flying.

Prior to this, I thought that California would go red, because people are so deeply frustrated with the progressive left, but the anger at Republicans who are victim-blaming (while not victim-blaming hurricane victims) is palpable and I am not so sure now.

I just really resent this type of talk as I am in a red state and don't know a single person feeling remotely happy about fires. I am in a couple very large facebook groups for weather/hurricane info, and people feel absolutely terrible and have compassion and want to help. There is a lot of incentive to polarize and divide rather than look at all the people supporting others.

I live in NC, near Asheville, and just went through the Helene devastation. We actually lost our home. After the storm, for a week or more, there was no decent cell service in our region, and almost no one had wifi wither. At least in our neighborhood, people were so banded together during that time, helping each other all day every day. I think it was that way through much of the region. As soon as cell service was back, all the disinformation and politicization started up, and the level of camaraderie was immediately impacted - the tone immediately changed - at a micro level, on the ground, it went from "we're all in this together" to "did you hear that Trump/Biden/FEMA said _________" and the party was over. It was SO eye opening, and sad, and made it feel really apparent how years ago individuals from different parties could work together toward common goals, and how much now we're inundated and affected by what we hear on our partisan news stations and, worse, social media. On a larger scale, of course people are still helping people here, but at the micro level, there was this moment of utopian community action, and it was dispelled instantly by cell service the moment it came back.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS TOXIC!

People - seriously listen to what PP is saying: social media is being used to DIVIDE YOU.

You are being manipulated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Californians are already going after other Californians. No need to make up drama about what people in TX or FL thik. People looking for housing are reporting price gouging and bidding wars over long term rentals. Very low inventory, which is typical. People are wasting no time to profiting off the tragedy of others. Right in California.

Rent is supply and demand.
The cost of new rentals is going to go up.
Most of the reports about price gouging is for luxury homes.
If you don’t need to live in one then you will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CA will go RED going forward. It's just time and necessary. Either that, or just let it go...

Californian here. I’ve thought that for awhile (there is a lot of frustration with Democrats here), but the deep anger here at the Republicans who are attacking people who have lost their homes may have interrupted that process. There is a lot of media coverage of those folks and people here are furious, especially because no California politicians tried to target the victims of hurricanes in a similar way.

What people are doing this though? I've only seen a couple examples.

There has been a few links posted in this thread. And it may only be a few Republicans attacking the victims of the fires but links about what they are saying and doing are flying around here, even from people who don’t like Democrats. The behavior is so extreme and cruel that it’s getting a lot of airplay.

There are also rumors claiming that red state folks were cheering for the fires during moments of silence at football games. Californians may be a lot of things, but there are no stories of them cheering for hurricanes during moments of silence for hurricane victims. I’m not even sure that it’s true that red state football fans were cheering during moments of silence but I’ve now seen the claim made a couple of places so the rumors are flying.

Prior to this, I thought that California would go red, because people are so deeply frustrated with the progressive left, but the anger at Republicans who are victim-blaming (while not victim-blaming hurricane victims) is palpable and I am not so sure now.

I just really resent this type of talk as I am in a red state and don't know a single person feeling remotely happy about fires. I am in a couple very large facebook groups for weather/hurricane info, and people feel absolutely terrible and have compassion and want to help. There is a lot of incentive to polarize and divide rather than look at all the people supporting others.

I live in NC, near Asheville, and just went through the Helene devastation. We actually lost our home. After the storm, for a week or more, there was no decent cell service in our region, and almost no one had wifi wither. At least in our neighborhood, people were so banded together during that time, helping each other all day every day. I think it was that way through much of the region. As soon as cell service was back, all the disinformation and politicization started up, and the level of camaraderie was immediately impacted - the tone immediately changed - at a micro level, on the ground, it went from "we're all in this together" to "did you hear that Trump/Biden/FEMA said _________" and the party was over. It was SO eye opening, and sad, and made it feel really apparent how years ago individuals from different parties could work together toward common goals, and how much now we're inundated and affected by what we hear on our partisan news stations and, worse, social media. On a larger scale, of course people are still helping people here, but at the micro level, there was this moment of utopian community action, and it was dispelled instantly by cell service the moment it came back.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS TOXIC!

People - seriously listen to what PP is saying: social media is being used to DIVIDE YOU.

You are being manipulated.

It’s not social media. It’s the Republican politicians spreading lies that are divisive on purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Californians are already going after other Californians. No need to make up drama about what people in TX or FL thik. People looking for housing are reporting price gouging and bidding wars over long term rentals. Very low inventory, which is typical. People are wasting no time to profiting off the tragedy of others. Right in California.

Rent is supply and demand.
The cost of new rentals is going to go up.
Most of the reports about price gouging is for luxury homes.
If you don’t need to live in one then you will be fine.

No, landlords and the realtors are quadrupling rent, accepting offers to pay a full year in advance, and soaking bidding wars. The California AG is going to nail them. The realtors association needs to send out an alert to not break the CA price gouging law or risk losing your license.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re talking about presidential politics, CA will absolutely not go red. If you’re talking about the governorship, it will only go red if someone like Rick Caruso runs. He is well respected and moderate. In terms of our Legislature it is solid solid Blue.

This fire changes very little because most of the political noise is from outside the state.

We have devastating fires all the time in California. Almost every year! And we’re still a blue state. Because we believe in climate change, gun control, assistance for the poor, separation of church & state, and the women’s right to choose. We also believe in competence of Government, and we do not believe that is a characteristic of the current Republican Party.

I dunno...he has been pushing misinformation on FoxNews...

He’s frustrated with California leadership but he’s a good dude. Not crazy maga. Center of the road. I don’t like how he’s criticizing everyone (everyone is a critic these days). I think he’s gearing up to run for governor so trying to get TV time and more name recognition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Californians are already going after other Californians. No need to make up drama about what people in TX or FL thik. People looking for housing are reporting price gouging and bidding wars over long term rentals. Very low inventory, which is typical. People are wasting no time to profiting off the tragedy of others. Right in California.

Rent is supply and demand.
The cost of new rentals is going to go up.
Most of the reports about price gouging is for luxury homes.
If you don’t need to live in one then you will be fine.

Yeah a lot of the price gouging is coming from future tenants themselves. They’re PAYING these prices. This is a fairly affluent group of homeless that can throw a lot of dollars at rentals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CA will go RED going forward. It's just time and necessary. Either that, or just let it go...

Californian here. I’ve thought that for awhile (there is a lot of frustration with Democrats here), but the deep anger here at the Republicans who are attacking people who have lost their homes may have interrupted that process. There is a lot of media coverage of those folks and people here are furious, especially because no California politicians tried to target the victims of hurricanes in a similar way.

What people are doing this though? I've only seen a couple examples.

There has been a few links posted in this thread. And it may only be a few Republicans attacking the victims of the fires but links about what they are saying and doing are flying around here, even from people who don’t like Democrats. The behavior is so extreme and cruel that it’s getting a lot of airplay.

There are also rumors claiming that red state folks were cheering for the fires during moments of silence at football games. Californians may be a lot of things, but there are no stories of them cheering for hurricanes during moments of silence for hurricane victims. I’m not even sure that it’s true that red state football fans were cheering during moments of silence but I’ve now seen the claim made a couple of places so the rumors are flying.

Prior to this, I thought that California would go red, because people are so deeply frustrated with the progressive left, but the anger at Republicans who are victim-blaming (while not victim-blaming hurricane victims) is palpable and I am not so sure now.

I just really resent this type of talk as I am in a red state and don't know a single person feeling remotely happy about fires. I am in a couple very large facebook groups for weather/hurricane info, and people feel absolutely terrible and have compassion and want to help. There is a lot of incentive to polarize and divide rather than look at all the people supporting others.

I live in NC, near Asheville, and just went through the Helene devastation. We actually lost our home. After the storm, for a week or more, there was no decent cell service in our region, and almost no one had wifi wither. At least in our neighborhood, people were so banded together during that time, helping each other all day every day. I think it was that way through much of the region. As soon as cell service was back, all the disinformation and politicization started up, and the level of camaraderie was immediately impacted - the tone immediately changed - at a micro level, on the ground, it went from "we're all in this together" to "did you hear that Trump/Biden/FEMA said _________" and the party was over. It was SO eye opening, and sad, and made it feel really apparent how years ago individuals from different parties could work together toward common goals, and how much now we're inundated and affected by what we hear on our partisan news stations and, worse, social media. On a larger scale, of course people are still helping people here, but at the micro level, there was this moment of utopian community action, and it was dispelled instantly by cell service the moment it came back.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS TOXIC!

People - seriously listen to what PP is saying: social media is being used to DIVIDE YOU.



You are being manipulated.

It’s not social media. It’s the Republican politicians spreading lies that are divisive on purpose.

No it’s mental cases like you STFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CA will go RED going forward. It's just time and necessary. Either that, or just let it go...

Californian here. I’ve thought that for awhile (there is a lot of frustration with Democrats here), but the deep anger here at the Republicans who are attacking people who have lost their homes may have interrupted that process. There is a lot of media coverage of those folks and people here are furious, especially because no California politicians tried to target the victims of hurricanes in a similar way.

What people are doing this though? I've only seen a couple examples.

There has been a few links posted in this thread. And it may only be a few Republicans attacking the victims of the fires but links about what they are saying and doing are flying around here, even from people who don’t like Democrats. The behavior is so extreme and cruel that it’s getting a lot of airplay.

There are also rumors claiming that red state folks were cheering for the fires during moments of silence at football games. Californians may be a lot of things, but there are no stories of them cheering for hurricanes during moments of silence for hurricane victims. I’m not even sure that it’s true that red state football fans were cheering during moments of silence but I’ve now seen the claim made a couple of places so the rumors are flying.

Prior to this, I thought that California would go red, because people are so deeply frustrated with the progressive left, but the anger at Republicans who are victim-blaming (while not victim-blaming hurricane victims) is palpable and I am not so sure now.

I just really resent this type of talk as I am in a red state and don't know a single person feeling remotely happy about fires. I am in a couple very large facebook groups for weather/hurricane info, and people feel absolutely terrible and have compassion and want to help. There is a lot of incentive to polarize and divide rather than look at all the people supporting others.

I live in NC, near Asheville, and just went through the Helene devastation. We actually lost our home. After the storm, for a week or more, there was no decent cell service in our region, and almost no one had wifi wither. At least in our neighborhood, people were so banded together during that time, helping each other all day every day. I think it was that way through much of the region. As soon as cell service was back, all the disinformation and politicization started up, and the level of camaraderie was immediately impacted - the tone immediately changed - at a micro level, on the ground, it went from "we're all in this together" to "did you hear that Trump/Biden/FEMA said _________" and the party was over. It was SO eye opening, and sad, and made it feel really apparent how years ago individuals from different parties could work together toward common goals, and how much now we're inundated and affected by what we hear on our partisan news stations and, worse, social media. On a larger scale, of course people are still helping people here, but at the micro level, there was this moment of utopian community action, and it was dispelled instantly by cell service the moment it came back.

You should write an op-ed in your local paper on your experience, even if it’s anonymous. It hopefully will resonate with people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CA will go RED going forward. It's just time and necessary. Either that, or just let it go...

Californian here. I’ve thought that for awhile (there is a lot of frustration with Democrats here), but the deep anger here at the Republicans who are attacking people who have lost their homes may have interrupted that process. There is a lot of media coverage of those folks and people here are furious, especially because no California politicians tried to target the victims of hurricanes in a similar way.

What people are doing this though? I've only seen a couple examples.

There has been a few links posted in this thread. And it may only be a few Republicans attacking the victims of the fires but links about what they are saying and doing are flying around here, even from people who don’t like Democrats. The behavior is so extreme and cruel that it’s getting a lot of airplay.

There are also rumors claiming that red state folks were cheering for the fires during moments of silence at football games. Californians may be a lot of things, but there are no stories of them cheering for hurricanes during moments of silence for hurricane victims. I’m not even sure that it’s true that red state football fans were cheering during moments of silence but I’ve now seen the claim made a couple of places so the rumors are flying.

Prior to this, I thought that California would go red, because people are so deeply frustrated with the progressive left, but the anger at Republicans who are victim-blaming (while not victim-blaming hurricane victims) is palpable and I am not so sure now.

I just really resent this type of talk as I am in a red state and don't know a single person feeling remotely happy about fires. I am in a couple very large facebook groups for weather/hurricane info, and people feel absolutely terrible and have compassion and want to help. There is a lot of incentive to polarize and divide rather than look at all the people supporting others.

I live in NC, near Asheville, and just went through the Helene devastation. We actually lost our home. After the storm, for a week or more, there was no decent cell service in our region, and almost no one had wifi wither. At least in our neighborhood, people were so banded together during that time, helping each other all day every day. I think it was that way through much of the region. As soon as cell service was back, all the disinformation and politicization started up, and the level of camaraderie was immediately impacted - the tone immediately changed - at a micro level, on the ground, it went from "we're all in this together" to "did you hear that Trump/Biden/FEMA said _________" and the party was over. It was SO eye opening, and sad, and made it feel really apparent how years ago individuals from different parties could work together toward common goals, and how much now we're inundated and affected by what we hear on our partisan news stations and, worse, social media. On a larger scale, of course people are still helping people here, but at the micro level, there was this moment of utopian community action, and it was dispelled instantly by cell service the moment it came back.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS TOXIC!

People - seriously listen to what PP is saying: social media is being used to DIVIDE YOU.

You are being manipulated.

It’s not social media. It’s the Republican politicians spreading lies that are divisive on purpose.

So you're going to just fall for whoever is manipulating you and their lies? You can decide you refuse to get manipulated.