El Niño is expected to bring wild weather, but it's also business opportunity for some. Contractors are booked up as homeowners prepare for heavy rains and ski resorts gear up to cash in on snow.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
It is a super El Niño year. The natural climate pattern is shaking up winter weather across the country. Some areas could be drier and warmer, others could be greater than average precipitation, and that is creating some business opportunities. NPR's Ava Berger reports on the economics of El Niño.
AVA BERGER, BYLINE: Business is booming, that is, in the sump pump worlds in places where El Niño is expected to disrupt weather patterns and bring heavy rains.
ARMANDO CHAN: Right now, we are running a double of the crews what we used to run, and we're trying to help as much homes that we can before the rains come.
BERGER: Armando Chan, who owns a drainage company in Northern California, is getting 50 to 60 calls a day. That's compared to his average of 10. Now, some regions of the country are already getting hit with heavy rains and floods, which are made more likely and more intense by El Niño, like in the Southwest. Thousands have been forced from their homes. Several people died.
THOMAS DONALDSON: That is a bedroom with - that's just all mud. But I don't think I'll ever see something like this ever in my lifetime here.
BERGER: Thomas Donaldson is a co-owner of Redemption Restoration and Cleaning in Farmington, New Mexico. He and his crews have been really busy, especially Oliver.
DONALDSON: So this is Oliver.
