Nobody is Coming to Help After a Disaster — Nobody but Us

March 26, 2026 | North Coast Journal | Read HERE

Written by Laurie Richmond and Erin Kelly

What each of us can do to make our community more resilient

It’s been a difficult start to the year in our corner of far Northern California, with record tidal flooding that inundated more than 40 homes in King Salmon Jan. 4-6, the same weekend as the fire in downtown Arcata. Just over a year prior on Dec. 5, 2024, our community experienced a magnitude 7.0 earthquake and tsunami warning — a stark reminder of the seismic risks our region faces. To the east, huge wildfires return almost annually, with the August Complex and Slater fires in 2020 burning through communities in Trinity and Siskiyou counties, killing three people and destroying hundreds of homes.

While our geographic location has always placed us at risk of disasters, climate change will only make things worse, bringing sea-level rise and increased coastal flooding, wildfires of larger size and severity, and greater potential for extreme weather events.…CONTINUE READING