The lack of variety in the daily forecast resulted in the inclusion of earthquakes and seasonal brush fires in the weather report, and 1994 was typical of most years in The Golden State.
“I’ll be there, I promise,” said Sandra to her daughter.
“You always say that Mom.”
“There’s nothing that can stop me from being at your graduation!”
Sandra’s thoughts flashed back to a morning several months earlier. She normally drove about fifteen minutes to her job in Culver City. The fourteen-lane 405 freeway was the primary north/south artery through the area, but despite its huge capacity it often slowed to a crawl during rush hours.
The morning she recalled was a perfect storm of so called “earthquake weather,” the name given to periodic rashes of temblors that raised Angelino anxiety levels to thoughts of The Big One, a handful of roadside brush fires that lofted snow-like ash into the air, and an overturned southbound tanker truck that spilled its contents onto the freeway. Drivers in mid commute when the accident occurred were frozen in place, some pulled off to the side having run out of gas, and many unable to reach off-ramps to the surface streets until the wreck was cleared, a hazmat process made lengthy by the truck’s contents–sulfur! The entire roadway was shut down.
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