“We gotta go baby. We’re going on a fun adventure,“ she told 4-year-old Ethan in her gentlest voice, scooping up her 18-month-old baby and fleeing their house in Altadena.
The trauma has been severe for everyone, but is perhaps more acute among evacuated families with young children, many of whom are now desperately seeking diapers, milk formula and clothing.
“When we woke up at four in the morning panicking, he was shaking, scared,“ recalled Mihm.
The Mihms are sheltering at a friend's home after struggling to find a hotel.
As his mother -- still wearing the slippers in which she'd fled -- spoke to an AFP reporter, Ethan proudly displayed his new dinosaur pajamas and toy car.
'Traumatized'
“We desperately need diapers,“ said Kellie Krievs, a 38-year-old communications director who is volunteering at the makeshift operation in the parking lot of the Santa Anita racetrack.
Beyond those products, mental health is an urgent concern.
“They’re acting differently and they’re under stress -- they know that their friends have lost their homes, and they know that their school is closed.”
“Just trying to make sure they understand that their community, whether it be physically or emotionally, is still there for them,“ she said.
Thankfully for the Mihms, their home was only partially burnt.
But they are still unable to return, with no electricity, powerlines dangling dangerously around the house, and National Guard soldiers sealing off the street.
“We’re OK. We’re just devastated, that’s all,“ Mihm said.
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