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Disastrous W inter Floods
Caused $8,000,000 Damage to March Storms

Took Bis Toll
State Highways and Bridges

HREE separate storms during the period December 11
to March 4, damaged State highways and structures to By T. H. DENNIS
T the extent of $8,000,000.
December and February storms took their heaviest toll in Maintenance Engineer
the northern part of the State, while the March storm con-
centrated on the southern section. The damage for the entire
period, however, was almost equally divided between the two
areas.
December and March storms, which caused over 90 per
cent of the damage, were of three to five days duration and
brought rains of cloudburst proportions to the higher alti-
tudes, while establishing record-breaking hourly and daily
precipitation records in the valley and coastal regions.
The March storm, which this article describes, swept in
from a low-pressure area over the Pacific which extended
from the Aleutian Islands south to a point about 800 miles
west of San Francisco. Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ven-
. tura, and San Bernardino counties suffered the brunt of its
attack.
TORRENTIAL RAINS
Heaviest rains centered in the San Bernardino and San
Gabriel mountains, northerly of San Bernardino and
Pasadena, where a total of 30.49 inches for the storm
-was recorded at Lake Arrowhead, and 10.89 inches
during an 8-hour period at Camp Opids in the· upper reaches
of the San Gabriel. The city of Los Angeles reported 11.06
inches for the storm, 5.55 inches of which fell within a 24-
hour period on March 2.
The rainfall data clearly indicate the increasing preci-
pitation as the storm neared the mountains. For instance,
Long Beach reported some 6.99 inches of rain for the storm
period; Huntington Park 9.48 inches; Los .Angeles 11.06
inches ; and .Azusa 14.95 inches. .Again, Newport Beach re-
ported 5.95 inches; San Bernardino 9.82 inches; Devils Can-
yon 13.65 inches; Waterman Canyon 22.10 inches; and Lake
.Arrowhead 30.49 inches. The counties of Santa Barbara and
San Luis Obispo to the north of the storm center, as well
as San Diego to the south, shared to a lesser degree in the
storm damage.
RIVERS LEA VE BANKS
The effect of this downpour was immediately evident. The
normally dry stream beds on these mountain slopes, tribu-
tary to the Santa Clara, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, Mojave
and Whitewater rivers, were soon raging torrents. The
main rivers, swollen to flood proportions by this sudden
influx, overtopped their banks, creating flood conditions
unprecedented since 1884. In the resulting chaos, lives were
lost, property destroyed and lines of communication and
transportation either damaged or disrupted.
In such a battle no quarter is asked or· given. Failures of
ser~ices under such conditions deserve no censure, as the law
of economics must govern man's constructive efforts. There
remained, however, the supreme test upon which judgment
will always be passed; namely, the, ability to recover and Waterfall on Foothill Boulevard in San Bernardino County
function under such punishment. caused by flood waters of Cucamonga Creek.