Newport and Costa Mesa officials are bracing for El Niño

With weather forecasters expecting that Southern California will face one of the most severe El Niños on record this winter, city officials are busy preparing for the stormy season.

El Niños develop when equatorial westerly winds diminish, weakening a cold ocean current known as Humboldt. That creates unusually warm water in the eastern Pacific. The warmer water could cause heavy rain as it heats the atmosphere and changes circulation patterns. However, experts say they are unable to predict the exact intensity or duration of an El Niño or which areas will be affected.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said there is a 95% chance that El Niño will continue through the upcoming winter before gradually weakening in the spring.

Tuesday’s storm, which brought about 2 inches of rain in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, flooded Newport Boulevard between West Coast Highway and Hospital Road, leaving motorists unable to pass through the standing water for about three hours.

Newport Beach Public Works Director Dave Webb said the flooding stemmed from a blocked cage on the side of a storm drain that catches debris. Once the blockage was cleared, water began to flow freely into the drain, he said.

Every September, the city begins removing debris from its roughly 90 miles of storm drains. The drain that created the blockage had not yet been cleaned, Webb said.

To some, the storm foreshadowed a wet winter. However, city officials assert that blocked storm drains likely will not cause significant problems this winter.

In addition to cleaning storm drains, the city bought more than 10,000 sandbags to help residents protect their homes and is contacting mooring holders in the harbor to ask them to check hardware and anchoring to make sure boats are secure during storms. Crews also have been inspecting traffic signals, checking private construction sites for erosion control, trimming trees to prevent them from falling during high winds and wrapping up road construction projects before the expected rain hits.

Officials also will be checking the sea walls surrounding Newport Harbor to repair major holes or cracks.

“We’re in better shape than we were many years ago,” Webb said of the city’s preparation efforts.

El Niño storms are likely to cause headaches if heavy rain occurs in tandem with big surf and high tides, according to Newport Beach utilities director George Murdoch. In that case, low-lying coastal areas could see flooding, despite the city’s preparations.

“If the area has historically flooded in the past, then it’s likely to flood again,” he said.

Previous El Niños have caused roads to flood on the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island, which is known during storms as the city’s bathtub.

“The water doesn’t naturally drain out, so we have to pump it out,” Webb said. The city has purchased additional pumps to aid in the effort.

Photos from the Balboa Island Historical Society of the 1982-83 El Niño season show people floating in canoes and inflatable rafts down streets of Balboa Island after a severe downpour in 1983.

During the winter of 1997-98, a series of storms flooded roads, caused mudslides and killed 17 people statewide, according to reports. Forecasters anticipate that this year’s storms could be comparable to that.

Though Orange County traditionally averages about 14 inches of rain each year, the El Niño in 1997-98 brought 31 inches of rain, rivaled in recent years only by storms in 1977-78 that dumped 33 inches of rain on the county.

Newport Beach city staff will present its efforts to the City Council on Oct. 13, along with suggestions for homeowners, including cleaning drains, trimming trees and completing home repairs.

Webb emphasized that residents must continue to conserve water even if El Niño hits, since it will take several wet winters to recover from the state’s persisting drought.

“People hear El Niño and think the drought is over,” he said. “It’s not over until we fill the reservoirs. We still need to do our part and conserve.”

Down the road in Costa Mesa, city crews also are preparing for the possibility of intense rain by clearing storm drains and stocking up on sandbags for residents.

The city has personnel on standby during storms to make sure that drains do not overflow, spokesman Tony Dodero said.

However, Costa Mesa, which is on a coastal plain, historically has not seen as much flooding as its seaside neighbor.

“For the most part, Costa Mesa is not a town that floods,” Dodero said.