• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Malibu’s Furies

BY ANNE SOBLE

Pick your weather alert! Red flag conditions with Santa Ana winds and low humidity on one day, high surf and coastal flooding on the next, and storm conditions set to follow on the day after that. It’s just another week in Malibu, that iconic bastion of all things that used to be considered beachy California before one started contemplating the possibility that climate change is not a game of mind meld being conducted by a liberal political conspiracy. Even those of you who would just as soon not hear another word about the predilections of nature as manifested in the current local weather patterns are beginning to acknowledge that the pattern now going on here is that there may be no pattern at all. Confusion and the inability to predict are difficult enough for most coping mechanisms, that there is an element of ominousness increases the anxiety level of all concerned. Not only does Malibu continue to need the additional contingents of firefighters that are being kept at the ready, we need extra lifeguards and the supply of sandbags at local fire stations is being replenished as soon as it is depleted. The Malibu lifestyle calls for more fortitude and endurance than were written into most people’s purchase agreements.

We have been browsing through some of the suggestions for helping Malibu to heal that were expressed at Sunday’s community gathering at Bluffs Park. The generosity and compassion of local residents is boundless, and the matching of those in need with those who want to help took a major step forward. Still, we are puzzled that there are those who think that we can prevent fires and other disasters from occurring if we just spend enough money or alter the land. “Stop fires.” “I don’t want to have to think about losing my home.” “More people and equipment could stop a wildfire.” “Why does Malibu have so many problems?” “I moved here to get away from life’s concerns.” Thoughts like this are understandable, but untenable. Unlimited expenditures on personnel and apparatus, blocking public access to land it helped purchase, or denuding the terrain of anything green and flammable are not only not possible but they wouldn’t accomplish anything if they were. Fire, and flood, and all the other so-called disasters—because of how they affect us as individuals—will always be part of Malibu. The natural conditions that make Malibu such an extraordinary place to live also make it so vulnerable. Although some choose to regard these events as tantamount to the Malibu Furies, they are neither punishment, nor revenge. And we will endure.