Anticipating a soggy winter, local residents are already scurrying to protect their homes - top to bottom - from flooding.
Local roofers claim a huge demand for work in case the predicted El Nino storm system hits the area with its trademark relentless rainfall.
And Santa Clarita Valley fire stations say free sand bags are going fast. At one station - No. 107 in Canyon Country - you can even get sand to fill those bags. Be sure to bring your own shovel.
``Everybody's been kind of getting ready for this El Nino effect,'' said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Bob Haskell.
Roofing company owner Mike Marino says business is up 150 percent this year, a boom he attributes directly to predictions of torrential rain.
``They're saying, `When can you start the job?' They're not asking about price. They're totally panicking,'' Marino said.
Marino suggests calling a roofer before the wet weather season if you have:
A 20- to 25-year-old wood roofing costs shake or composite roof
Missing shingles
Water stains on your ceiling from years past
Any leaking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFfZzms3xT4
To choose a roofer, check the company's record with the state licensing board, the state Office of Consumer Affairs and past and present customers, Marino advised. He also suggested looking for experience.
His prediction this year?
``I grew up here,'' Marino said. ``I've seen it rain real hard. I've also heard `El Nino, El Nino' and we got nothing at all.''
To protect your home from the bottom, consider sandbagging to dam rainwater and mud, Haskell said.
``The trouble areas are always the newly graded areas, or where a fire has taken out all the vegetation,'' Haskell said. ``That can cause mudslides.''
He suggested homeowners clear all their landscape drains to ensure water flows to gutters.
While all local county fire stations are equipped with free sand bags, Station 107, 18239 Soledad Canyon Road, also has a limited supply of sand. Be advised, firefighters will not fill the 30-pound bags.
``We tell people to come with a pickup truck, an able strong body and a shovel,'' he said.
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Photo: (color) Firefighters Tom Brady, left, and Angel Medina demonstrate how to fill sandbags for flood protection at county Fire Station No. 107 in Canyon Country. The station is providing free sand, in addition to the bags available throughout the area, but residents are advised that this photo is not intended to imply that the firefighters will actually do the loading for them.
Hans Gutknecht/Daily News
