DIRE PREDICTIONS DRAW DEMAND FOR ROOFING, POLICIES, SAND BAGS.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer El Nino may wreak wreak tr.v. wreaked, wreak·ing, wreaks 1. To inflict (vengeance or punishment) upon a person. 2. To express or gratify (anger, malevolence, or resentment); vent. 3. havoc in the coming months with the world's farmers and fishermen, but for now it is proving a bounty to a few other industries. Roofing companies in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , for one, report strong business as homeowners fix annoying leaks that could become more troublesome if the promise of El Nino's torrential rains come. Some roofers have even been keeping their customers apprised of the looming threat via fax bulletins in an effort to drum up extra business. Similarly, homeowners insurance firms report a booming trade. ``We're seeing a definite increase in the number of policies in force,'' said Kenneth Adams, a spokesman for the Western Insurance Information Service. Between May and July, California insurance companies wrote $500 million in new homeowners and flood insurance Flood insurance denotes the specific insurance coverage against property loss from flooding. To determine risk factors for specific properties, insurers will often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands and floodplains that are susceptible to flooding. policies, Adams said, and that figure is expected to climb higher still in coming months. Perhaps most indicative of all, phones have been ringing off the hook at Los Angeles-based An-Wil Inc., one of the largest suppliers of cloth sand bags on the West Coast. ``When it rains, we're swamped,'' one harried company official explained late last week as the season's first storm passed overhead. The firm is filling hundreds of orders a day and selling thousands of bags by the hour, she said. The El Nino weather phenomenon that turns up in the tropical Pacific every three to five years can affect weather patterns around the world. This year's incarnation is expected to be the most intense in 150 years. Thar n. 1. (Zool.) A goatlike animal (Capra Jemlaica) native of the Himalayas. It has small, flattened horns, curved directly backward. The hair of the neck, shoulders, and chest of the male is very long, reaching to the knees. she blows! In this Sept. 20 image of the Pacific Ocean taken by the Topex-Poseidon satellite, white and red areas show warmer-than-usual water traveling east along the equator and floating off the coast of South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . In the white regions, the water is 6 to 13 inches higher than usual. In the red, it is about 4 inches above normal. All that warm water is expected to increase evaporation evaporation, change of a liquid into vapor at any temperature below its boiling point. For example, water, when placed in a shallow open container exposed to air, gradually disappears, evaporating at a rate that depends on the amount of surface exposed, the humidity and ultimately create stormclouds along the Americas that could wreak climatic havoc this winter. Green areas in the image show normal conditions
For still more information on El Nino, the following Web pages are a good place to start: El Nino Home Page operated by Wesleyan University Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1831. There are special cooperative study programs with the California Institute of Technology and the engineering department of Columbia Univ. www.wesleyan.edu/libr/scourse/elnino/elnino.htm Caltech's El Nino Watch www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/nino.htm The U.S. Dept. of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino.htm A New Age perspective www.sierratel.com/newage/link3.htmel+nino El Nino and climate prediction Climate prediction refers to :
atmos.washington.edu/gcg/rtn/rtnt.htm CAPTION(S): Photo, box Photo: Thar she blows! Box: Thar she blows! (see text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion