O.C. Cities and Agencies Plan Cooperation on El Nino

Representatives of nearly a dozen coastal cities and several county agencies met for four hours Wednesday to compare notes on their preparedness for what weather forecasters predict could be the wettest rainy season in 50 years.

They agreed that while the county is well prepared, cooperation is essential.

“When it comes right down to it, the lines that separate us are political lines,” said Les M. Jones, Huntington Beach’s director of public works, who chaired the meeting at City Hall. “When we share what we’re doing, the public benefits.”

Huntington Beach officials said they had organized the meeting--attended by about 85 public works, emergency and county officials--in the wake of dire warnings regarding this year’s El Nino condition. The cyclical phenomenon, characterized by a reversal of the cooling trade winds, causes a warming of the ocean, often leading to huge increases in the amount of rain along the California coast.

In the 1982-83 season--the worst on recent record--El Nino conditions brought torrential storms and record surf that caused 14 deaths and $265 million in damage, ripped up the Santa Monica, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach piers and forced the evacuation of more than 15,000 people.

One storm dumped four inches of rain on central Orange County in six hours, causing more than $40 million in damage including the flooding of 1,110 homes.

“In ’82 and ’83 we learned a lot of lessons,” Jones said, “and the main one was to be prepared early.”

To that end, the gathered officials heard from representatives of the Orange County Flood Control District, Orange County Sanitation Districts and Caltrans on their plans for dealing with El Nino. They also discussed ways of persuading the public to prepare for emergencies.

“Today was very valuable,” David E. Niederhaus, general services director for Newport Beach, said toward the end of the meeting. “There are little things that we all can do. I think we’re very well prepared, but today kind of filled in the blanks.”

Other cities participating in the meeting included Long Beach, Irvine, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Westminster, San Clemente and Los Alamitos. The large turnout, Jones said, bodes well for the county’s future.

“This is the beginning of a coordinated approach to mutual assistance,” he said, adding that another meeting would be held in about three months. “I believe that the cities are well prepared, but now they have a forum. We’re off to a good start.”