CARe Update

Here is a tip from a CPA who has been through a disaster himself. In his own words, "For more than 20 yrs. John has assisted taxpayers who experience disasters I experienced the 1994 Northridge Earthquake first-hand I have a unique professional perspective on the process of recovery from a disaster."

The tip is "Don't Rush to Deduct." More details can be read here:
http://www.accountantfordisasterrecovery.com/2011/09/are-you-entitled-to-large-tax-loss.html

---

Anyone who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area on Oct. 17, 1989 must remember two things: the anticipation over the first Bay Bridge World Series between the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants; and the Loma Prieta earthquake, which stuck on 5:04 PM just as Game One was getting underway. What you may not recall is how Mac technologies and Mac users assisted in the rescue efforts.

Read More:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/recalling-the-loma-prieta-earthquake-and-mac-advantages/951

---

Having insurance to protect your stuff may not be enough. There's one more thing you have to do.

See More:
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/video/economy-22350848/26475274

---

Disaster survivors launch web site to help others document their loss.

See More:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/6259275-malibu-fire-foreclosure-victims-launch-web-site-to-help-others/

---

SAN DIEGO — Almost four years after the massive 2007 wildfires pounded the county, a judge on Monday set a trial date of next September in a case that pits San Diego Gas & Electric against hundreds of people and agencies that lost property in two of the biggest blazes.

However, how many plaintiffs there will be, exactly what form the trial will take, precisely when it will happen and numerous other issues are yet to be worked out as attorneys continue to hash out myriad details about the Witch and Guejito fires that tore through North County.

Read More:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/26/2007-wildfire-trial-set-september-2012/

---

Much of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s natural-gas transmission system could be at risk of catastrophic failure, but the company's record-keeping system is so flawed that the true danger is impossible to determine, federal investigators said today in their final report on last year's San Bruno disaster.

The National Transportation Safety Board said PG&E had made numerous mistakes in the management of its transmission-pipeline system, including its failure to test more widely for substandard welds after finding several on the pipeline that exploded Sept. 9, 2010, and on other pipelines.

Read More:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/26/MNPK1L9JM5.DTL#ixzz1Z5GeVwOf

---

SAN DIEGO -- 10News is learning new information on Wednesday about the sequence of events that led up to the massive blackout that wiped out power for millions across the region earlier this month.

An investigation by the California Independent System Operator revealed that there was not enough coordination between the five power system operators impacted by the Sept. 8 outage, which left several million people in Orange and San Diego and Imperial Counties as well as part of Mexico and Arizona without power.

Read More:
http://www.10news.com/news/29261019/detail.html

---

Two devastating wildfires only four years apart gave San Diego County officials an unprecedented opportunity to measure whether changes in building codes and planning requirements designed to mitigate wildfire disasters actually made any difference.

The conclusion? "They worked," said Jeff Murphy, deputy director of the county's Department of Planning and Land Use.

Such an experiment is not possible in Texas, where counties have very limited authority over development within their boundaries. But in Southern California, counties have taken the lead in trying to reduce fire damage in the wild land-urban interface, the rural areas where human development brushes up against nature and where wildfire danger is the greatest.

Read More:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/san-diego-county-building-codes-tested-in-wildfires-1877898.html

---

Karen Reimus slowly pilots an SUV through her Scripps Ranch neighborhood of large Tuscan-looking homes with red tile roofs and meticulously tended lawns. As kids play and adults stroll the streets greeting each other by name, she points out the homes that vaporized eight years ago after the Cedar Fire leapt through the subdivision, leveling more than 300 homes.

"That one burned, that one burned, that one burned, that one didn't, that one did." It sounds like a grim version of "duck, duck, goose."

Read More:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/fire-survivors-faced-insurance-headaches-1877897.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage

---

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIF. — The fire rushed out of the mountains in the dark hours of early morning, driven by 40 mph winds and fed by expanses of chaparral wicked dry by years of scant rainfall. Some saw the flames as a giant wave, a crashing surf of fire curling over on itself. Others simply called it biblical.

It had begun as an isolated vegetation fire the day before, on a warm October afternoon in 2003. From there it had raced across the county at a speed previously unimaginable. At 10:50 that night it jumped a road and dropped into the San Diego River drainage. Twenty minutes later, a firefighter reported 75-foot flames so hot they ignited brush through the air.

Read More:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/historic-california-fire-holds-lessons-for-bastrop-1877913.html?page=2&viewAsSinglePage=true

---

Did you ever wonder what would happen to your family if a fire started in the house? Would everyone be able to get out in time? Would they know what to do and where to go as soon as they smelled smoke?

The reality is that when a fire strikes, every minute counts. That's why the United States Fire Administration recommends that everyone have a comprehensive fire protection plan that includes smoke alarms, residential sprinkler systems and a well-planned home fire escape plan.

Read More:
http://www.10news.com/health/29261791/detail.html

---