Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Goodbye West Coast drought, hello El nino; Out of the fire and into the frying pan
Topic Started: Nov 8 2015, 12:56 AM (550 Views)
Pat
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Those empty canals will be overflowing but the depleted groundwater is a different story.


L.A. leaders warn Angelenos to prepare for 'Godzilla' El Niño storms

A "Godzilla" El Niño is on the way, and Los Angeles city leaders are warning residents to be prepared.

After years of drought, storms this winter could bring heavy rains, floods and mudslides. To prepare for the emergencies that will probably accompany those disasters, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an executive directive to create an El Niño Task Force made up of 13 city departments that together will focus on short-term and long-term preparations.

"The city must be ready for the immediate effects and the subsequent aftermath that come with heavy rainfall," Garcetti said at a Friday news conference. "The actions we take to prepare for any and all of these impacts have the potential to directly affect our livelihoods and indeed ensure the survival of our city."

This winter's El Niño is expected to be comparable to the ones experienced in 1982-83 and 1997-98. During the 1997 storms, 17 people died and Los Angeles experienced $500 million in damage. An El Niño storm in January 1983 destroyed 1,000 homes between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

In anticipation of communication problems that could accompany a disaster, the city signed an agreement with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon to share network capabilities in the aftermath of an emergency. That means cellphone customers could access voice and data services on any of the four networks.

A second contract with AshBritt Environmental and CTI Environmental would provide food and shelters to Angelenos should the city run out of resources after a disaster.

If you're prepared for the big earthquake, you have the fundamentals to be prepared for El Niño.
- Jim Featherstone, general manager of the Emergency Management Department
"If you're prepared for the big earthquake, you have the fundamentals to be prepared for El Niño," said Jim Featherstone, general manager of the Emergency Management Department.

In addition to an earthquake kit, property owners should clean out their gutters and consider buying flood insurance, Featherstone said.

Los Angeles residents can also sign up for emergency email, voice and text alerts on
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Brewster
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Yup, it's going to be quite interesting in California for the next 6 months or so.

While nobody's doubting there could be and probably will be some serious rainstorms, nobody's forecasting the end of the drought either.

How can that be?

It is hard to imagine just how dry California is right now, unless you're actually working on it. Some areas haven't had any significant amount of moisture for years.

And a week's worth of rain, no matter how hard, is never going to replace years of nothing. But even worse than that, torrential rain such as they're likely to see mostly runs off, washing away topsoil, vegetation, etc., making the situation even worse when the rain finally stops.

This explanation also applies to states further inland and up the coast, which have gotten reasonable amount of rainfall recently, but are still listed as suffering drought conditions.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pat
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
The snow pack will capture a lot of that rain. The official drought has been four years and in the meantime California has passed some responsible legislation that will thwart future irresponsible water use. If you don't learn your lesson from this experience, then the gene pool needs to address it.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Corky52
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Pat,
I've got a bunch of neighbors who will tell you how crazy you are, the last hurricane down in Mexico sucked all the heat out of the El Nino. El Nino is just another "warmist" plot according to them.


:smoker:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pat
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Corky52
Nov 8 2015, 01:27 AM
Pat,
I've got a bunch of neighbors who will tell you how crazy you are, the last hurricane down in Mexico sucked all the heat out of the El Nino. El Nino is just another "warmist" plot according to them.


:smoker:
I'll wave at them as their faces appear on the news from the roof of their homes that are being washing to the ocean. :smile:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jim Miller
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
When did California move to Canada? Actually, that would be a great idea.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Corky52
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Pat,
The El Nino is now part of the whole Climate Change War, part of a liberal/greenie plot.

:smoker:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pat
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Corky52
Nov 8 2015, 01:38 AM
Pat,
The El Nino is now part of the whole Climate Change War, part of a liberal/greenie plot.

:smoker:
If it is a plot, this is not it's first act. I can't remember if it was 1977 or 78, maybe 79. We were told that the then drought was so severe that it would take years to recover. In that one winter the dried up reservoirs filled up to the brim. The depleted groundwater is my greatest concern, it took tens of thousands of years to accumulate and the farmers depleted it in just a few short years. That bank is now empty for all practical purposes. It's now a whole new game, even mini droughts will devastate fresh water supplies and with no groundwater to use as a temporary backup. Plus the states up river on the Colorado are demanding more fair shares. I'm glad we never settled permanently there.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Berton
Member Avatar
Thunder Fan
[ * ]
Also remember Pat we were told that the drought in the Great Plains was going to be never ending and would only get worse. Yet in one season the reservoirs are filled and the drought is gone.

I have seen 4 droughts come and go in the Great Plains. That pattern will continue as it has done for millennia.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Corky52
Member Avatar
Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
[ * ]
Pat,
After the above post, I rest my case!


The reactionaries are concatenating two different problems to blur both problems!


:smoker:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Join the millions that use us for their forum communities. Create your own forum today.
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Fire And Ice General Discussion · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Website Traffic Analysis