Is it all over ? Political fires now raging !
The firestorm and the hot temperatures may have passed, but politically the storm is only beginning to brew. I'll try and keep out of that and so preserve my independence.
Anyway, the alert level was today reduced to Nr.1 again, which means the island's government is again solely responsible. Same happened before (much discussed) in the face of a heat-wave alert and an almost-extinguished fire. After that, all hell broke loose, and the just sent-home hydro-planes had to be sent back here. This time, however the weather gods are kind and it even rained a few drops last night. The fire is out and what is left smouldering underground may take another while to extinguish, but appears to be definitely under control. The total damage seems dramatic, but of the core-forest only 8% was damaged and most of the island is totally intact. An eminent expert on the type of habitat affected and an expert in forest fires, Professor J.R.Arrevalo, has even stated that human efforts to 'restore' the affected areas after the fire may do do more damage than the fire itself. Most plants and trees affected, he says, have a built- in fire resistance and/or their seeds can withstand fires. The canary palm (phoenix canariensis) even grows stronger after having been 'cleaned by fire'.
Damage to property, crops and livestock is another matter and sincere donations are urgently needed (see previous posts), as the officially-announced aid will not arrive where it is needed most. Also previous experience on the islands of Gran Canaria (severe fires 2007) and la Palma (...2009) has shown that most of the affected people are still waiting for the 'immediate aid' promised by the institutions, and court cases demanding same are still pending.
Here a video of pictures of the recent fires , with some caricatures thrown in:
It was BAD, I'm not trying to hide that fact - but a lot worse was the media-hype.
Thankfully nobody was hurt or worse... or the media would have made the rest of us victims...
LA GOMERA is alive and kicking, and still intact.
The poor are worst-hit, as always: See previous posts for direct donations
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