my name's lucas. it sure is bobby. building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. i'm kristen sze. you're watching "getting answers" live on abc7, who live and wherever you stream. we are asking questions to get answers in real time. today we will talk about what we can do to stay safe and healthy during the wildfire season is more and more smoke filters into the bay area. we will take you to disneyland and show you what it is really like at the happiest place on earth right now. plus tips from a bay area man, a young man who has turned his love of all things disney into a real business. first, take a look at this. this is how bad the drought has

been in july on the west coast. it shows every year since 2000. some years are worse than others. when we get to this year there is a noticeable difference when it comes to the amount of dark red that you see. those are the areas in the worst drought conditions. joining us right now to talk about and get reaction to governor newsome's news conference today about the drug that we face, the impact is tf fleming, coexecutive director of the california water efficiency partnership. the thank you for joining us today. let's get your audio up next thanks, kristin. i have myself unmute resume still gets us. it does that to me still and it has been over a year. today, governor newsome urged everybody to cut water usage by 15% does that apply to homes, businesses, industries, farms or all of them? >> today, governor newsome asked all californians to reduced by 15%. that is looking at residents,

commercial industry, business and agriculture. it is a voluntary ask, asking us to lower usage to help with the drug. >> as you said, it is voluntary, not a mandate at this time. why? some people might take that to mean things aren't that bad yet. >> this is generally how we have seen restrictions start. we always ask voluntarily. no . government is excited to run in and tell everyone they have to take shorter showers or can't water their lawn. however, they want to ask californians to do our part and so i think this is where we are right now. i think it is really important for californians to take this to heart. what we learned in the last drought is it is possible to reduce our use but we all need to pitch in. >> give us some tips for how we can reduce by about 15% with minimal pain, if you will. >> if you think about, on

average, i will use a round number that is easier to understand. if we use about 50 gallons of water inside our homes a day, that is 7 1/2 gallons we are asking to reduce by. that can be done by taking shorter showers, you save about five gallons turning off the water brushing your teeth. it is ingrained from the last drought. you can take it a step further and reduce your output irrigation. water less. water with the weather so don't water when it is hot. water in the evenings or mornings when it is cooler. if you don't have outdoor landscape, as a lot of folks in the bay area don't, really checking for leaks and taking them seriously can be a effective way to save water. listening for running toilets, looking for dripping faucets, looking for pools of water really essential that you take action to fix those leaks right away. >>

wonder if truly, you think people historically, have we been shown to be able to comply on a voluntary basis when we get the call? or does it take kicking it into the penalty level or rationing level? we don't want to get there. >> we definitely don't want to get there. during the last drought we did fall short of the mandatory -- the voluntary ask from governor brown. that was in 2015. he did impose mandatory restrictions. we ended up, as californians, reducing our water use by about 21%. since then, we have kept our usage down from before that drought 16% so we have actually embodied and embraced a lot of the savings we have already done i think that is the challenge we have to take as californians. saving water, being water efficient needs to be a way of life, something we continuously do whether in drought or not. will we be able to do it voluntarily? i hope so. i would not like to see mandatory restrictions

necessarily. i would like to see californians step up and do their part. >> why is this so bad? i read rainfall was at 126 years low. is that it? is it the higher temperatures? is it climate change? for water management? growth? >> maybe all of the above but i think primarily what we really focus on are the shorter, rainier seasons and higher temperatures. what that means is the water that sits in our snowpack is evaporating quicker or going into the soil faster and not running out and we are punishing our rivers and reservoirs. that is problematic for urban areas that rely on snowmelt. it provides our water. so that kind of changes a huge factor. this is a sad impact of a warming climate, something that we, and center, are

experiencing right now. >> no doubt we will face more of these summers and gail bergen has a good point on facebook life. she said i already rarely use any water. as we said from the drought of 1976 about the toilet, if it is yellow, let it mellow. if it is brown, lush it down. but the point about already not using much water, or 20% is easy to cut but then you get to more and more and it becomes harder. we are at that point now. i barely use any. we have to look at long-term solutions. where is that at? are we investing in recycling? buying water? desalination? what other long-term results? >> those are big scale solutions. all of us center around increased innovation and technology. we are seeing toilets now that are 1.6 gallons a/and in the 1970s more like six or seven

gallons. so we are replacing toilets but on a larger scale, we don't -- we see the south day, orange county. really having invested a while ago in water recycling, and that is proving to be what they are calling a drought proof water supply. and i really like that terminology because it is true. when we are reusing water, finding ways to clean it, finding ways to inject it into our groundwater, bring it back up to use it all the time, that is going to be the future of water use in california. >> tf fleming, coexecutive director of the california water efficiency project, no doubt these conversations will become more and more important. we are glad you are able to join us and we will talk to you again soon. take care. coming up next, a doctor will join us to talk about how we can protect ourselves as we get into fire season. it is so

"drive." welcome back. as we talked about earlier, governor newsome but eight additional counties under an emergency drought order so the order covers 50 out of 58 counties. dry conditions this year have meant more wildfires and more land burned then at this time last year. now, california's biggest h venmo hmo is joining us to help with wildfire preparedness. joining us is dr. susan fitzgerald at kaiser permanente in san francisco. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> when we think of the battle against covid or promoting

health and wellness, we think of kaiser. but we don't typically think of kaiser when we think about repaired for wildfires. explain what kaiser is doing now and why. >> in part of the answer, it lies in the question. i will focus on the health and wellness part of your question. wildfires over the past several years have effected all of us in one way of or another. we have the wildfire, the evacuation itself with a wildfire smoke which can come as we know, linger in the area for quite a while. going back a couple of years to the tubbs fire in 2017 and another fire in 2019, both of which led to hospital evaluations in kaiser permanente, santa rosa. since and during that time we learned a great deal about the need to be as prepared as possible and also how to prepare. when i say prepare i'm talking about prepare our merickel centers medical centers for the possibility of evacuation and preparing at home, that being

physicians, staff, administrators and members, patients and the community in general. we are partnering with the american red cross to really get this information out to folks. it is more and more unfortunately necessary and pertinent. >> you were at the hospital working when you had to evaluate evacuation in the 2017 tubbs fire? working in santa rosa? what was your take away from the evacuation that you think would also apply to folks watching who are either at home or had businesses? >> i think the first thing that comes to mind is the unthinkable that evening became the syncopal the thinkable. never in my life did i think we would have to evacuate one of the hospitals that i worked in. that was number one. number two is to understand that our brain reacts certain ways under stress. that not -- are not always as clear. we are not always as clear as we would like to be when we are certain stressors.

and certainly a wildfire evacuation, direct, impending wildfire threat is an stressful situation so learning about that and what we called the "disaster brain" in the emergency management world. learning how that can affect your action is an important take away. learning and understanding how much can be done ahead of time to prepare and stage for an evacuation. so if it does come down to that, you are not scrambling at the last minute to get yourself out of your home, for example. taking the time now to do the planning, the preparing and then the practice. that is just so essential. ensuring a smooth evacuation be it a medical center or your own home. >> those are the three pillars you touched on that you will try to share with the public. plan, prepare, practice. so how might we practice? >> you know, at home, i would

recommend, once you have completed the planning and preparation, developing your evacuation plan, signing up for alert, understanding which evacuation zone you are in, doing the actual preparation of getting your home and property ready, defensible space and so on, creating your evacuation and emergency supply kit. once you have done those things and developed planning about how and when you are going to get out, where you are going to meet and how you will communicate i'm a then it is time to practice. that does a few things. number one, it allows you to test plans and procedures. it also allows you to develop muscle memory along the way. and hardwiring ahead of time, how you are going to respond, what response actions you are going to take, getting that in there and ahead of time is going to be so help will. should it come to an actual evacuation, you are more likely

to be able to really perform in a safe, organized, efficient manner. >> hardwiring ourselves. i never thought about that as a concept before. that is really interesting and of course, it makes sense. as an e.r. doc what are the biggest threats to our health wildfires? some are obvious but others may be less so? >> of course, there are obvious ones. anyone with respiratory conditions like asthma, emphysema, things like that are certainly very vulnerable in a wildfire environment and wildfire smoke environment. cardiac conditions can certainly maybe be made worse. i think other things are more subtle. first of all it is anxiety producing to live and work in a fire zone. more than that, it can be particularly -- a wildfire event -- whether or not it directly affects you, can be particularly destabilizing for those with mental health conditions.

thinking about that, there are a lot of ways that wildfires really can have a juventus -- tremendous impact on our health next what is your suggestion for folks who may be at home patients or people who have medical conditions or perhaps depend on machines or medication or support. what do they need to do to prepare? >> again, that is the thinking ahead of time. what are your particular needs and an event. what do you need or what does your family member or your patient need to get out safely? what do they need to sustain themselves in their health once they are out? and different situations will mean that the content is going to be a little different but the thing to do ahead of time is to connect with your physician and develop a plan that is personalized to you or your family members' medical situation and is particular to whatever medical equipment, medications and so on, they may

need. really, again, that is where the preplanning is going to be absolutely essential. i would also recommend practicing there as well. always doing so in a safe way that does not that anyone at risk while practicing. >> plan, prepare and practice. dr. susan fitzgerald of kaiser permanente, thank you so much. appreciate your time. >> thank you. coming up next, i know a lot of you are asking is this the right time to go to disneyland? is it expensive? is it a good deal? is it crowded? is it not? should i go? a bay area young man has become a disneyland insider and we will have him on to

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big news from disneyland this week. today, the theme park announced details for its popular halloween events. after yesterday's announcement of discounted tickets for california residents. if you are considering a trip to the happiest place on earth

this summer, you might wonder is this a good time to go or wait a little longer? joining us is gavin doyle, the bay area founder of the popular mickey visit downtown blog and author of the best-selling book, "disneyland secrets." gavin, >> it's a great day to talk about disneyland. >> every day is. i thought you might have mickey ayres on but that's okay. before we ask you to spell your secrets including how to score the best deals, not wait in line. a little about you. you just graduated from college a couple of years ago. usc. you have been running your "all things disney" website for nine years now? >> 10 years. >> or you like four years old when you started? >> 13. hard to believe, eighth grade in middle school. i was really interested in the internet and where things were going. was always entrepreneurial and at the same time i love going to disneyland over the years, from a lot of going as a family

and curious about the history and how to do the parks test, i became the go to guy. >> they always say pursue your passion and you turned that into a business so that is so cool. really great. this is why everyone is watching. is this a good time to visit disneyland or not? >> i think it's a great time to visit disneyland. there is a lot of great special offerings that are just being announced and kicking back off. so we are obviously making it through covid disney has been focused on safety. that's the top priority. at the same time, the guest experience. as we talked about earlier this year, end of may, they have increased capacity since then. people increased capacity and get a little nervous. as the increased capacity they are opening more restaurants and getting more cars onto each ride so even if there are more

people in the parks, actually, wait times can be lower even with that increasing capacity. for instance, from june 14th to june 15th, those were pivotal days. >> when the state reopened? >> exactly. we saw an increase in attendees but the average wait times were lower because they were able to operate more efficiently and in a more traditional manner. so in general it is a great experience to get back to the parks. >> we had tons of questions from viewers. osmond wants to know do they have parades and fireworks back at disneyland? >> the fireworks just kicked off again earlier in celebration of july 4th. they will run all summer and mickey's mix magic is a ton of fun. >> parades. when will they come back? >> parades we don't have information on yet. we did just hear that there will be parades as part of the special halloween party that was just announced today. that is a separately ticketed event but that happens

september and october. >> got it. fan wynn wants to know what is the fast track situation? i think you need fast passes. when i went i did not know if they were running fast passes. >> a lot of people are used to fast pass and capacity is low and limited and they have not rolled out the service again yet. >> i heard in paris they are now doing away with that and charging you for kind of a front of the line experience. talk about that and i wondered, oh, my gosh, will that happen here? >> as we saw with max pass, they are always experimenting with ways to make the guest experience better and who knows whether that will stick around in paris or become international. every disney park thinks about crowds and crop management so it will be interesting to see how that works but nothing like that has been announced for disneyland at this point >> janice wants to know, why do you charge so much money? her question stems from right

before the pandemic. disneyland raised prices, indicating kind of a demand kind of flex pricing and it could go up to $150 per day per park when it is really busy. how do you address that question? >> let me talk to her of course i am not disney but just a disney fan site that loves going and helping people who ask that question go. what is important or two inks. you said demand based pricing. when they did that they lowered some prices as well. it's important to call out there are times throughout the year when it's okay with not going on a peak day and you can save money on a per day ticket. the best way is to go on a multi-day ticket and you will get your per day amount quite a bit. and i love that to use a second to talk about a special they just announce. >> giving the three days? $83 for californians? is that how that works?

>> exactly. $83 per day and that was announced through disney. they are also allowing travel partners of which i work with one closely, to sell them at an increased discount so if you book through my website which is mickey visit.com/tickets, you could save $71 per day and that is one part per day three day. it ticket instead of the $249 disney would charge on that special. and where disneyland would charge $304, if you go to mickey visit .com/tickets it would be $200 -- $292. that is through a travel website called getaway today. >> gavin, the fact that they are offering this deal right now, does that suggest the part has access capacity? i remember when it first reopened in late april. and when i went in may it was hard

to get a reservation and you had to have a reservation to go. >> definitely. in general with covid we are figuring out what travel patterns will be like. a lot of international guests maybe not coming in or people who want to go on driving vacations. what we are seeing is the park increasing capacity from that day and june days as well as them looking for ways to fill in for what would typically be people coming in for from australia or south america or internationally from the uk and europe. so just about all those others or flying in from other parts of the country. this is their thought of how can we bring in california residents and make this a special time for them. i also want to point out quickly the annual pass holder program which has been put on pause. there are lots of disney fans and dizzy wants to help to have them come back to the park this summer. >> with 30 seconds, i want to ask you how easy is it to get on the special attractions?

the new web sling or as part of the avengers campus? >> you definitely have to plan in advance for those. at mickey visit .com we have a full guide on how to get on to those rides. it takes understanding of the disneyland app and if you go, again, another reason we recommend multiple days because it gives you more opportunities to try it out and not be bummed out if you don't get it. it is possible to get on the ride and a lot of fun. it is really just the next

oroweat small slice. i wonder if this has the same quality ingredients as the original whole grains bread? great question, dad. and it does. it has all the same nutritious deliciousness as the original slice but only a little bit smaller. just like timmy here. my name's lucas. it sure is bobby. inus on this interacting show, "getting answers."

today we talked about drug std prepare for wildfires. and of course we got this a wildfire tips. disney is the parent company tonight, a double punch. storms hitting the northeast as we come on the air, with tropical storm elsa also racing up the east coast, set to hit right after this. tonight, tropical storm warnings from north carolina up through d.c., philadelphia, new york city and boston. the northeast just hit with storms, now bracing for what elsa will bring. heavy rain, flash flooding and winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour. the i-95 corridor. more than 50 million people in the path. and several tornadoes reported from florida to the carolinas. authorities have now confirmed an ef-2 touching down. and all of this amid rescues already in new york city as we come on, the aimimages of the flooding. ginger zee with the newest track

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