MEHAMA, Oregon — At about 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, alarms on Diana Morris’ phone began going off. It was the smoke detectors — the security system on her house in Mehama was alerting her of the worst. The Beachie Creek Fire had reached her front door.
SALEM — It was her frostbitten foot and toes that convinced Joann she wouldn’t last another winter in Wallace Marine Park, with the unforgiving rain, 20-degree nights and mud so thick it sucks the shoes from homeless campers’ feet.
SALEM — Richie Gregg lives in his foreclosed childhood home and the only reason he’s still alive is that they haven’t shut off the electricity.
SALEM — Crowded around a telescope pointed toward the eastern sky, four students heed the deliberate instructions of a grey-haired astronomer.
“At five seconds, filter’s off!” Richard Berry says, keeping an eye on his silver wristwatch.
PHOENIX — Mike White's eyelids are half-shut. His breathing is slow, heavy. Two days ago, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. He's still taking drugs to combat the illness and he blames the medicine for sapping his energy.
SEATTLE — Not even the washing instructions for Five Ultimate clothes are traditional.
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas, Mexico — A telephone call from a terrified voice woke Virgil Edwards in the middle of the night. From his New York City apartment, he heard the sounds of children crying and chaos nearly 2,000 miles away.
