The Sandbags Stay
Monica Hill kept sandbags at her front door and on her back patio all summer, through the dry months when San Diego barely sees a cloud. They sat in the heat breaking down, weeds working through the seams, each one forty to fifty pounds of sand in fabric that was slowly giving out. Hill watched floodwater wreck her apartment in January 2024. Now, with forecasters expecting a wetter-than-average winter, the city has declared an emergency and cleaned eleven miles of storm channels. Hill's sandbags were there before any of it.
The Sandbags Stay
Monica Hill kept sandbags at her front door and on her back patio all summer, through the dry months when San Diego barely sees a cloud. They sat in the heat breaking down, weeds working through the seams, each one forty to fifty pounds of sand in fabric that was slowly giving out. Hill watched floodwater wreck her apartment in January 2024. Now, with forecasters expecting a wetter-than-average winter, the city has declared an emergency and cleaned eleven miles of storm channels. Hill's sandbags were there before any of it.
One Decision
Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin, Florida, on October 9 with 105 mph winds and tore up Frank Laritz's home in Pace. It's a manufactured home, built in a factory the way a mobile home is. The storm took his roof, his siding (the outer wall covering) and a window. Next door, a tree came down through his older neighbor's roof and wrecked her bathroom and floors.
Less than a week later, Laritz told local radio station WUWF he'd be cutting down the big trees he had left. He knows that means giving up the shade.
Either way, he pays:
- Keep the trees: A future storm might drop one on the house. Might not.
- Cut the trees: The house runs hotter and the power bill climbs. That part's guaranteed.
Shade counts for more on a house like his. Manufactured homes are light and thin-walled, so they heat up fast. A well-insulated house stays cooler on its own. In Pace, most days from late May through late September top 86°F, and July nights hold around 75°F. Without shade, his air conditioner works harder every summer.
But Laritz just watched a tree fall through his neighbor's ceiling.
Whatever the weather does next won't prove him right or wrong. Twenty quiet years won't make him a fool, since he went by what he'd just seen, and a storm next August won't make him a prophet. He's trading one cost for another. The power bill is just the one that comes every month.
Paired Stories
Gil Barel Is Still Paying Rent on a Home She Can't Live In
Gil Barel's Pasadena duplex survived the Eaton Fire. She hasn't lived in it for twenty-one months. As a renter, she can't commission the building's remediation, negotiate with her landlord's insurer, or decide when the cleanup is sufficient. She hired her own tester and found heavy metals. Her landlord reported "good results" but won't share them. New California law strengthens the rules between her landlord and the insurer. She still can't direct what happens to the building.
Kareem Ali Lives in His Driveway
Kareem Ali owns his Altadena home. It survived the Eaton Fire. He has full authority to file the insurance claim, hire contractors, and direct the remediation. What he doesn't have is the money to sustain any of it while State Farm disputes how much work the house needs. He paid $3,000 for testing the insurer wouldn't cover, spent his personal-property payout on partial cleanup, and moved into a donated RV in his own driveway. The house is twenty feet away.
Further Reading
