3com Weather Report: Calif. Rain Breaks El Nino Record
Tuesday February 17 11:50 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Rainfall in storm-soaked California
is already nearing the total amount for 1983, the last
year El Nino-driven tempests battered the state, meteorologists
said Tuesday.
As San Francisco cleaned up after a fresh storm front pushed
through Monday, forecasters at the National Weather Service
said the city had received a total of 34.88 inches of rain
since July 1.
That compared with total of 38.17 inches for the entire
1982-83 season, a "monster" year for rainfall as an El Nino
warming of Pacific waters sent storm after storm crashing into
the California coast, causing widespread floods and landslide
damages.
"It certainly seems likely that we will break the all-time
record for February precipitation," said Jim Carroll of the
National Weather Service.
"We are currently in the second wettest February on record,
and we still have half the month to go."
Forecasters said another storm promising up to an inch of rain
would hit northern California Thursday, followed by a stronger
system Saturday.
"They are still just lining up out there waiting to come in,"
Carroll said.
Residents and relief teams worked up and down the state Tuesday,
taking advantage of a break between fronts to buttress defenses
against the next storm system.
In the town of San Leandro near San Francisco, residents of
several houses threatened by a slow-moving mudslide paid
engineers to lift their houses off their foundations in an
effort to keep damage to a minimum.
To the north, in the Russian River resort town of Rio Nido,
more residents were allowed quick, supervised visits to retrieve
valuables from homes threatened by a sodden hillside which
geologists say could collapse at any time, burying the structures
in some 250,000 cubic yards of mud.
Teams made up of state, local, federal damage assessment
officials began visiting communities around the state Tuesday
to develop preliminary reports to determine eligibility for
disaster assistance funding.
State officials have estimated that the storms, which have been
blamed for ten deaths, have caused close to $300 million in
damages so far, and predict the bill will rise as more storms
ride in from the Pacific.
"The really important thing to remember about this disaster is
that we are not out of it yet," said Paul Jacks, deputy state
coordinating officer for this season's storms.
Gov. Pete Wilson has advanced $4 million to cities and counties
to help pay for the clean-up -- adding to $11 million in federal
aid made available when President Clinton declared much of the
state a disaster area last week.
Officials at the state Office of Emergency Services (OES) said
the situation appeared largely under control, with no major
flood threat on the immediate horizon.
But they added that the next set of storms, and forecasts of
more stormy weather for months to come, meant it was too early
to relax yet.
"It is anticipated that it may run through June. When
you think about it, including the snow melt-off, it is
unpredictable," said OES spokeswoman Susie Wong.
"We anticipate springing into action once the storm systems
begin moving through again."
Tornado hits; Florida mops up
Tuesday February 17 5:03 PM EST
INDIATLANTIC, Fla., Feb. 17 (UPI) People across Florida are
mopping up after as many as seven tornadoes and several other
severe storms raked the state during the past two days.
A tornado touched down today in Indiatlantic, damaging between
50 and 100 homes, a Winn-Dixie supermarket, a health club, and
a gas station.
Homeowner Judy Blankenship was sitting in her living room
when the tornado started removing her roof.
She says, "I just went into the hallway. It didn't bother me."
Many cars also lost their windows to the twister, but there
were no injuries.
Authorities think a small tornado touched down in Belleview,
lifting a large tree from outside Don Moody's house and hurling
it through his bathroom window.
There is still a great deal of flooding in Marion County.
Department of Transportation workers are filling a 50-foot-wide
and 80-foot-deep sinkhole along the Gilchrist/Alachua county
line that was one of two that appeared overnight.
Five other tornadoes were spotted in Pinellas, Orange and
Volusia counties where some damage was reported.
The normal wintertime dry season has been anything but dry
everywhere in Florida with may cities recording double-digit
rain levels in December as the result of the El Nino weather
phenomenon.
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