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Article: Planning for a new type of natural disaster: El Nino phenomenon brings innovative approaches.
- Article from:
- Public Roads
- Article date:
- July 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Superintendent Of Documents. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"To be, or not to be; that is the question."
Hamlet's classic query was on the minds of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Region Nine staff last fall. Would the much-publicized El Nino actually bring widespread flooding and mudslides to their region, which encompasses Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada? Was it "to be"?
Scientists had been warning that the unusually high sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific could portend disaster. And while the El Nino phenomenon is not new Spanish-speaking South Americans named it years ago for the birth of the Christ child celebrated during late December, when El Nino manifests itself - this particular El ...