Has anyone here actually been through a strong El Nino 'season' in California? If so, you know the damage and havoc it can cause all around the state. I know that it sounds good in theory -- because we desperately need the rain in California --- but you must believe me when I tell you (because I have experienced a lot of El Nino events in my life) that IF a sizeable El Nino comes along, it is not going to be the great relief that it seems like it will be, because our storm drains, hillsides, infrastructures, sidewalks, roofs, etc., are not prepared to handle that much rain (simply because it is not a regular event). Flooding will occur. Mudslides will occur. Roofs will cave in.
We are not talking about some pleasant showers here and there that automatically solve the drought issue and then go away. The El Nino rain (if it is moderate or severe) can be torrential, and last for weeks on end. Again, I have experienced this first hand. You can imagine my joy at coming home from work one day in 2001, only to turn on the light in my bathroom and realize that rain water was all over my floor, and leaking from my light fixture (I'm on the first floor of apartments, with 2 floors above me). The roof of the apartment building couldn't be fixed for about one month, because the rain was relentless. In 2004, I was working late one night and there was rain water coming in through the roof of the office.
Just last week or so, when we had some heavy rain hit overnight, chaos ensued -- one such occurrence involved a flood of rushing rain water cascading down an inside stairwell of a nearby apartment building! And that was just from heavy rain in one night!
The rain that Texas has been experiencing -- with the floods and general mayhem? That's torrential, relentless El Nino rain. Trust me -- we do not want that. Unfortunately, we won't be able to stop it -- it will happen if it's going to happen -- but it will cause a lot of mayhem before it brings any kind of relief.