Storm heads for southern Utah, western Colorado

Steve Marshall

09/26/1997

USA Today

FIRST

Page 03A

A rapidly weakening Tropical Storm Nora is expected to shift today from

Arizona and southeastern California into southern Utah and western Colorado.

By then, it likely will be downgraded to a tropical depression with winds of less

than 39 mph.

But areas in the storm's path will still get wet. "I would think it will lose some of

its moisture, but will still bring plenty of rain," said Andrew Shashy of the

National Hurricane Center.

In southern California, the storm brought rain to Los Angeles after a

record-breaking 219 dry days. The Highway Patrol said the rain caused at least

228 accidents there; two people died. A third person died in a San Diego

accident.

The most visible effects of the storm in California came at Seal Beach near Long

Beach, just south of Los Angeles. Firefighters there wore wetsuits as they ferried

sandbags in kayaks to residents besieged by water.

Two-story waves crashed in with high tide, flooding dozens of homes.

Construction crews using huge earth movers worked feverishly through the day

to construct a half-mile long, 8-foot high earthen berm to protect the area from

any more Pacific Ocean wash over.

For the most part, residents took it in stride. "I think I need to take a sick day,"

Chip Parker recalled thinking when he awoke to find floodwaters.

In Phoenix, where emergency crews braced for the worst with extra staffing, the

storm was "behaving a lot like our monsoon storms -- it's windy and drizzly,"

said fire Capt. Bob Khan. "It's not going to cause us any more problems than a

monsoon would."

Contributing: Jonathan T. Lovitt in Los Angeles