It's all too common for narratives like these, i.e., "It's god's will" or "a miracle", because it allows people to dismiss their part of being unprepared since

It's all too common for narratives like these, i.e., "It's god's will" or "a miracle", because it allows people to dismiss their part of being unprepared since external locus-of-control frees them of the responsibilities of blame and agency. There are no "miracle homes", only preparedness and probability. In the 2018 Camp Fire, my mom's home was the only one left standing on the block because due to multiple factors: - Lack of fuel (including trees and debris) adjacent to the structure(s) - Proper building codes ensuring use of less flammable products - Distance of setbacks around the structure(s) - Almost an acre / 4k [m^2] of irrigated lawn on all sides Firefighters may have helped, but it's difficult to say because there was zero information for months. * When residents were allowed to return, 3 360L plastic wheelie bins were reduced to 1m diameter / 4mm high "puddles" by radiant heating alone. An outdoor shed built like a residential structure was reduced to a toxic crater, including melting steel tools into nothing. 2/3 of a cord of firewood burned near the back leaving a 2" / 5 cm discolored divot in aggregate concrete. Half of an aluminum ladder was left like it had hit lava. Embers left charring here and there but they didn't ignite. The rain gutters were packed full of pine needles that I asked my mom's now ex to solve who kept promising but never delivering. Also, loggers came in from all over and took trees at random from private and public property without the express consent of owners because of disaster resource harvesting since tree trunks were worth thousands each. Mostly Pacific ponderosa pines that stood since before Washington crossed the Potomac, each with 10k's of holes bored by woodpeckers getting at the damn beetles. Instead, the skyline was transformed into a haphazard, sterile moonscape construction site. * Like Lele, there was also no alarm and the county sheriff defended his inaction and lack of preparedness. The Amber Alert system could've been used by the county sheriff or the local police department, cell phone service was never disrupted. Also, there is a canard being promulgated by the media about not using the tsunami system in Lele, which would've been pointless. I'm sure they had an Amber alert system too, but it wouldn't have made any difference because their cell phone towers and power grid crumbled almost immediately. Hawaiian officials claim they sent out text messages but the cell towers were already down while it was being sent: so too little, too late. Like Paradise, the power company in Hawaii should've known about the weather conditions and turned off the power in dry conditions with high wind.