Having grown up in California and now living in New York, I know that the unthinkable can happen anywhere. Still, I never imagined I’d wake up to a disaster in Southern California surmountable to the devastation experienced by Hurricane Katrina.
On Tuesday, January 7, I started my day like any other. It was my last week visiting family in California before heading back home to the East Coast. The winds were blowing strong, and there was talk of a fire in the Palisades. At the moment, I brushed it off. It’s California—small fires happen occasionally.
I spent the day as usual, running errands, researching stories and preparing for the next EBONY cover release, when around 7 p.m., the power went out…