Flood Flick: On the heels of the...

Flood Flick: On the heels of the movie blockbuster “Twister,” there’s a new disaster video coming to Oxnard next month: “The Hidden Danger” is an 8 1/2-minute production from the National Weather Service about the perils of flooding. . . . All NWS stations in the country--including Oxnard’s--will get copies, says Bill Alexander of the agency’s Maryland headquarters. He was in Ventura this week for a conference on flooding. The mild-sounding “danger” of the title: water crossings.

Flood Danger: Water crossings are when stubborn motorists plow through a swollen creek. “Virtually all flood. . . . Fatalities are the result of people either playing in high water or driving through high water,” says Alexander of the National Weather Service. . . . Eve Gruntfest, a Colorado scientist also at the conference in Ventura, says two feet of rushing water is enough to wash away a car.

Not Again: After Newbury Park resident and Los Angeles fire Capt. Scott Miller was shot in the face during the Los Angeles riots in 1992, he said: “You have to accept some of the things that happen to you.” . . . After the Northridge earthquake mangled his old home, Miller said: “You just roll with the punches and keep on going.” . . . Now Miller is accepting and rolling again. His house burned down. (B1)

Native Numbers: Think of tree spirits and eagle feathers in Ventura County, and Ojai comes to mind. It’s no surprise that the Ojai area is host to the year’s biggest Native American celebration, the Lake Casitas Pow-Wow, which starts this morning at 10. . . . But it may be surprising that according to the 1990 census, the Ventura County city with the fewest Native American residents is . . . Ojai, with 51.