Prepared for the Lion

Let’s hope March is kinder than February was. The San Fernando and surrounding valleys got trounced by the steady onslaught of rain that made last month the wettest February on record. Yet despite the muddy mess wrought by the storms--including sliding hillsides, leaking roofs, snarled traffic and flooded yards--it’s worth noting that the long-term damage was relatively minor for most residents.

Preparedness helped. Beginning last summer, meteorologists predicted one of the worst rainy seasons ever--giving residents time to get roofs repaired, gutters cleaned and pumps checked. And it appears to have paid off. With the notable exception of a neighborhood in West Hills where rain undermined a row of hillside homes, most neighborhoods from Agoura Hills to Palmdale suffered little more than inconvenience and mess. And along many streets, neighbors pitched in to stack sandbags, lay plastic and shovel mud.

Part of the credit, of course, goes to the men and women in various city and county departments who kept roads clear, traffic moving and a watchful eye on hillsides saturated with rainwater. At all hours of the day and night, police officers, firefighters, traffic engineers, building inspectors and countless others did their work in less than ideal conditions--and they did it calmly and professionally.

Four years after the Northridge earthquake, the valleys of northern Los Angeles County still demonstrate the kind of grit and determination that saw them through the costliest natural disaster in history. Residents here have become adept at pulling together and hunkering down in the face of disaster. Even so, a break would be nice. So here’s to March--we hope it goes out like a lamb.