Weather: Up to 300% of normal rainfall is expected from El Niño.
Agencies scramble to be ready.
August 20, 1997 - Prodded by ominous warnings that the most turbulent El Niño winter
weather in decades may be lurching toward California, residents and government
agencies are scrambling for ways to survive the expected onslaught of wind,
water and waves.
Drains and flood channels are being cleaned, levees bolstered, trees
chopped, brush cleared, evacuation plans and Red Cross shelter lists renewed,
and damage control crews put through special training to help avoid the
kind of damage and paralysis inflicted when relentless El Niño storms
pounded the West Coast in 1982-83.
In San Diego, lifeguards are receiving special "swift river rescue"
training so they can serve as a kind of aquatic SWAT squad. Marine mammal
rescue squads in San Pedro and Laguna Beach are bracing for the specter
of hundreds of helpless animals being tossed onto beaches by the storms.
Work and training continues apace throughout the region even though the
sky is balmy, the surf gentle and thoughts of a tough winter hard to conjure.
If experts are correct, the storms could hit as early as September and last
through March or even longer.
Roofing contractors and gutter specialists report an increase in business.
Dave Danielson, a science and operations officer for the National Weather
Service who lives near the flood-prone Santa Clara River in Ventura County,
plans to increase his flood insurance.
"A little mitigation will go a long way," said Nicholas E.
Graham, an El Niño expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
in La Jolla.
Two hundred and fifty disaster preparedness and flood control officials
attended a daylong meeting Tuesday at Scripps to hear the ominous predictions
about El Niño and swap survival suggestions.
Some mega-agencies, such as the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Works and the city's Department of Water and Power, express confidence that
they are ready come what may, but smaller agencies with smaller budgets
are not as sure.
John Clement, public works director in Malibu, one of the hardest-hit
areas during the 1982-83 storms, plans to train the entire city staff in
emergency measures and has also scheduled a disaster drill for volunteers,
homeowners and public employees.
"Don't wait till the rains come."
One prediction is that rain in September, October and November will be
200% of normal, and in January, February and March, it will be 300%.
"This is an event to be reckoned with," Graham said. "There
is the possibility of extreme events. Three hundred percent of normal is
as large as it gets in Southern California."
Similar predictions have come from the director of the Climate Prediction
Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assn. in Washington. "I
think this particular [El Niño] is going to be as big as the strong
one of 1982-83," said director Ants Leetmaa.
Another prediction is that the storms could bring the kind of immense,
pounding waves not seen since 1982-83, which saw the biggest waves ever
recorded in the Northern Hemisphere. Described as the "event of the
century" in terms of West Coast weather, those storms did $265 million
in damage in California, were responsible for 14 deaths and forced evacuation
of 15,000 people.
"The signs are there," said Scripps researcher Richard Seymour.
Although several agencies with expertise in gauging weather patterns
have predicted a wet winter due to El Niño, experts concede that
El Niño is a phenomenon that is not entirely understood and that
predictions are tricky.
El NiñoSpanish for "the child" because the phenomenon
occurs near Christmasis the name given to the interplay between warm
currents in the Pacific Ocean off South America and changes in atmospheric
temperature, wave patterns and rain levels along the West Coast.
Already, water temperatures have risen 4 1/2 to 5 degrees (Celsius) higher
than normal, and ahead of the warming noticed in 1982. Ecuador, Chile and
other South American countries are experiencing severe storms with high
rainfall and flooding.
Many areas in Southern California are still repairing damage left by
El Niño in 1983 and other winter storms in recent years. Redondo
Beach has been replacing storm drains and inlets in residential areas throughout
the city in areas hard hit by the rains generated by El Niño in 1983
and by major storms three years ago.
"We can handle steady rain all winter long. That's not the problem,"
said Redondo Beach City Manager Paul Connolly. "It's the big 100-year
storm we're worried about."
Contributing to this story were Times staff writers Ken Ellingwood in
the San Gabriel Valley, Robert Lee Hotz in La Jolla, Tony Perry in San Diego
and Lorenza Monoz and David Reyes in Orange County and correspondents Deborah
Belgum in Redondo Beach, Tracy Johnson in San Pedro and Nick Green in Ventura.
© Copyright 2008 The Miller Law Firm. All rights Reserved.
If you experience problems or have questions, contact us at Info@ConstructionDefects.com.
|
