Can Los Angeles Avoid the Ignominy of Losing the Rainfall Race as June 30 Deadline Nears?

Nobody talks about the weather in Los Angeles—at least not till now. And nobody does anything about it, although that too is changing, as a crusading podcaster calls out to the world to bring one more storm to the City of the Angels while it still counts.

Rainfall year 2004-2005 remains in second place to the technologically pathetic year of 1883-1884, as hope grows dim that the 1.13 inches needed to set a new record will arrive before the looming deadline of June 30. Actually in a drought despite a series of storms that brought houses crashing down hillsides, modern Los Angeles faces an even greater disaster, loss of face. Already, residents notice smirks behind their backs which they fear will result in more industries leaving the area and a bursting of the local housing bubble.

While many Angelenos tensely wait out the month, podcaster Sondra Lowell takes a more proactive stance, encouraging her neighbors to join together to find a solution even as the clock keeps ticking. She has recorded a podcast—an audio report downloadable from OpenPodcast.org onto MP3 players and computers—asking local residents, and people of good will around the world, to seek a solution.

"This is not just about one city," Sondra pointed out. "It is about everyone alive today and all their descendants. If we hand over the record to 1883-1884 without a fight, we are saying that we have accomplished nothing of value in the last 120 years, and that just isn't so."

Her PrayForRain podcast calls for contributions of cash and ideas from scientists, psychics, meditators and others, which she urges be sent as soon as possible to the Mayor's Office, City Hall, Los Angeles, California, USA.

As her own contribution, Sondra is allowing PrayForRain to be downloaded from OpenPodcast.org and pod/broadcast in its entirety by anyone who wants to make this momentous cause a priority in their own life.