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| Who said it never rains in Southern California? | Who said it never rains in Southern California? |
| (about 8 hours later) | |
| Roads in Long Beach were flooded | Roads in Long Beach were flooded |
| California, a part of the world usually associated with sunny skies and sandy beaches, is suffering from such heavy rains that a state of emergency has been declared in several areas including Los Angeles, as David Willis reports. | California, a part of the world usually associated with sunny skies and sandy beaches, is suffering from such heavy rains that a state of emergency has been declared in several areas including Los Angeles, as David Willis reports. |
| Remember that song It Never Rains In Southern California? | Remember that song It Never Rains In Southern California? |
| Ironically perhaps, it was written by an Englishman - Albert Hammond - who had yet to actually travel here when he came up with those words. | Ironically perhaps, it was written by an Englishman - Albert Hammond - who had yet to actually travel here when he came up with those words. |
| True - it is not actually about the weather, but it has probably done more than any other ditty to uphold the image of Los Angeles as some sort of palm-fringed paradise with nary a cloud in the sky which - compared to where Mr Hammond and I hail from - it is. | True - it is not actually about the weather, but it has probably done more than any other ditty to uphold the image of Los Angeles as some sort of palm-fringed paradise with nary a cloud in the sky which - compared to where Mr Hammond and I hail from - it is. |
| Wisdom has it there are indeed four seasons in Los Angeles - fires, floods, mudslides and earthquakes | Wisdom has it there are indeed four seasons in Los Angeles - fires, floods, mudslides and earthquakes |
| There are parts of the UK which get 15 times more rainfall in a typical year than Los Angeles. | There are parts of the UK which get 15 times more rainfall in a typical year than Los Angeles. |
| Seattle, up the coast from here, averages 37 inches (940mm) of rain. That is double the figure for the City of Angels. | Seattle, up the coast from here, averages 37 inches (940mm) of rain. That is double the figure for the City of Angels. |
| 'Batten down the hatches' | 'Batten down the hatches' |
| Yet to hear the city's overly tanned weathermen working themselves up into a frenzy over the last few days, you could be forgiven for thinking we were on the brink of an apocalypse. | Yet to hear the city's overly tanned weathermen working themselves up into a frenzy over the last few days, you could be forgiven for thinking we were on the brink of an apocalypse. |
| Struggling to contain themselves as they conjured up portentous satellite images of storm clouds preparing to wreak havoc, the warnings became increasingly dire. | Struggling to contain themselves as they conjured up portentous satellite images of storm clouds preparing to wreak havoc, the warnings became increasingly dire. |
| Stay home and batten down the hatches. | Stay home and batten down the hatches. |
| Dig a hole or hide in the refrigerator. | Dig a hole or hide in the refrigerator. |
| Better still, round up two of every animal and build an ark. | Better still, round up two of every animal and build an ark. |
| And if you do have to go out, for goodness' sake take something with you to fend off those locusts and frogs. | And if you do have to go out, for goodness' sake take something with you to fend off those locusts and frogs. |
| The cause of all this excitement? Rain - rain which would bring with it hailstones the size of grapefruit and winds fierce enough to reconfigure a Beverly Hills facelift. | The cause of all this excitement? Rain - rain which would bring with it hailstones the size of grapefruit and winds fierce enough to reconfigure a Beverly Hills facelift. |
| Up to six inches (150mm) were forecast in some places and, as well as thunder and lightning, God forbid that the temperature would fall below 60F (15C) - or, as it is known locally, the limit of human endurance. | Up to six inches (150mm) were forecast in some places and, as well as thunder and lightning, God forbid that the temperature would fall below 60F (15C) - or, as it is known locally, the limit of human endurance. |
| Malevolent gusts | Malevolent gusts |
| To me, six inches of rain is really only a concern if you happen to be less than six inches tall. Otherwise there is a pretty good chance you will survive. | To me, six inches of rain is really only a concern if you happen to be less than six inches tall. Otherwise there is a pretty good chance you will survive. |
| But it is a problem here not only because of what people are used to, but because of where they have chosen to live. | But it is a problem here not only because of what people are used to, but because of where they have chosen to live. |
| Wisdom has it there are indeed four seasons in Los Angeles - fires, floods, mudslides and earthquakes. | Wisdom has it there are indeed four seasons in Los Angeles - fires, floods, mudslides and earthquakes. |
| A bone-dry summer paves the way for so-called Santa Ana winds - malevolent gusts which carry with them a dry heat from the desert. | A bone-dry summer paves the way for so-called Santa Ana winds - malevolent gusts which carry with them a dry heat from the desert. |
| All it takes is a stray cigarette butt and California bursts into flames. | All it takes is a stray cigarette butt and California bursts into flames. |
| It does so every year - regular as clockwork - but, for reasons known best to themselves, that does not deter people from building in wooded canyons or on the edge of steep hillsides. | It does so every year - regular as clockwork - but, for reasons known best to themselves, that does not deter people from building in wooded canyons or on the edge of steep hillsides. |
| Those that survive fires fanned by the blow-torch winds have only to wait until the rain arrives and, before they know it, they are on their way to Mexico on the back of a sudden mudslide. | Those that survive fires fanned by the blow-torch winds have only to wait until the rain arrives and, before they know it, they are on their way to Mexico on the back of a sudden mudslide. |
| It comes down to the fact that people here simply do not understand rain the way British people do. | It comes down to the fact that people here simply do not understand rain the way British people do. |
| 'Cats and dogs' | 'Cats and dogs' |
| And why should they when they get so little of it? | And why should they when they get so little of it? |
| It is little wonder that a city which sees 320 days of sunshine virtually grinds to a halt the moment the heavens open. | It is little wonder that a city which sees 320 days of sunshine virtually grinds to a halt the moment the heavens open. |
| Drivers put on their headlights and slow to a crawl, tempers rise. Interrupting a perfectly blissful summer's day is one thing, but these clouds had the temerity to intrude on paradise. | Drivers put on their headlights and slow to a crawl, tempers rise. Interrupting a perfectly blissful summer's day is one thing, but these clouds had the temerity to intrude on paradise. |
| The good news was the rain had scrubbed the sky of smog and left my newly re-seeded lawn looking a lush green | The good news was the rain had scrubbed the sky of smog and left my newly re-seeded lawn looking a lush green |
| I woke up the day after the "big one" - our fourth big storm in a week - and was relieved to find my house was on the same street it was on when I went to bed. | I woke up the day after the "big one" - our fourth big storm in a week - and was relieved to find my house was on the same street it was on when I went to bed. |
| We had had some thunder and lightning overnight. There were even reports that a car had been picked up by a tornado and tossed around like a rag doll (as if things were not bad enough for the American auto industry). And I must say it was still raining cats and dogs whilst I was making breakfast. | We had had some thunder and lightning overnight. There were even reports that a car had been picked up by a tornado and tossed around like a rag doll (as if things were not bad enough for the American auto industry). And I must say it was still raining cats and dogs whilst I was making breakfast. |
| But venturing out gingerly - while keeping an eye open for the four horsemen of the apocalypse - I have to say it proved about as treacherous as a typical day on Bournemouth seafront. | But venturing out gingerly - while keeping an eye open for the four horsemen of the apocalypse - I have to say it proved about as treacherous as a typical day on Bournemouth seafront. |
| The weathermen's verdict was we "dodged a bullet" and, aside from some gripping live pictures of a fireman rescuing a bemused-looking border collie from a lake, TV stations had to content themselves with shots of swaying palm trees and the odd bicycle that had blown over, hardly the stuff of newsgathering legend. | The weathermen's verdict was we "dodged a bullet" and, aside from some gripping live pictures of a fireman rescuing a bemused-looking border collie from a lake, TV stations had to content themselves with shots of swaying palm trees and the odd bicycle that had blown over, hardly the stuff of newsgathering legend. |
| The good news was that the rain had scrubbed the sky of smog and left my newly re-seeded lawn glowing a lush green. | The good news was that the rain had scrubbed the sky of smog and left my newly re-seeded lawn glowing a lush green. |
| I could not resist a peek at the forecast and almost squealed in delight when I read it: cloudy skies giving way to another storm system moving in off the coast. | |
| As far as I am concerned, it cannot come soon enough, not least because it reminds me of home and why I came to live here in the first place. | As far as I am concerned, it cannot come soon enough, not least because it reminds me of home and why I came to live here in the first place. |
| It never rains in Southern California - just ask Albert Hammond - but, girl, don't they warn ya, it pours. | It never rains in Southern California - just ask Albert Hammond - but, girl, don't they warn ya, it pours. |
| Oh man, it pours. | Oh man, it pours. |
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