By Kristen Sell
My peer, Emma Zavala, recently wrote an article about the advantages of the uprising storm El Niño. However, what she didn’t mention were the disadvantages, which the following paragraphs will explain.
The most recent El Niño occurred in 1997-1998. For the most part, it caused damage and wreckage.
Aimee Krueger, a Santa Barbara citizen, experienced El Niño in college. She claims that there was a lot of rain, schools were closed, creeks were extremely flooded, and freeway underpasses were filled with water. “In fact, I got stuck on the 101 southbound between Los carneros & Fairview for hours because a creek flooded and water ran across the freeway. The water level was so high it covered part of the car’s windshields. Cars tried to drive through and got washed off the freeway from the current.” she says, “Things were so hectic, that downtown Santa Barbara, people were actually jumping off of street light poles, into the water.
Sam Sell, a citizen of Santa Ynez Valley at the time, also experienced El Niño during his college years. He remembers that his father’s business, Rio Vista Chevrolet , was literally feet from taking on water from the Buellton riverbed. He perceives that many ostrich sadly died after the Ostrich Farm in Buellton was flooded. He says, “The water level was unbelievably high. The intersection of Alamo Pintado road and Highway 246 was underwater.”