LOS ANGELES—Ed Heinlein surveys the steep mountainside that has repeatedly unleashed tons of mud into the backyard of his Southern California home since a 2014 wildfire and still hopes the drought-stricken state gets more rain.
“We have to have the rain,” said Heinlein, whose home east of Los Angeles has become a poster child for the region’s cycle of fire and flood. “It’s bad for us but it’s desperate for the state.”
Residents had hoped that El Niño would drench California with enough water to end the drought that is now in its fifth year.
But so far, the periodic ocean-warming phenomenon has left much of the state in the dust, delivering a few quick storms but not yet bringing the legendary rain linked to past El Niños.
Ed Heinlein works on his property to prevent possible rain flooding at the back of his suburban home in Azusa, Calif., on March 2, 2016. AP Photo/Nick Ut
