Floods… and floods of memory….

Floods… and floods of memory….

 Read in the Sunday paper about the big flood of the west coast in 1861 and 1862. Mostly in California. but also in Oregon … and Boise Basin in Idaho. But California got the bunt of it… Sacramento, Ca was so bad, that the Governor had to row his boat from his house to the Capital building..

It was amazing to read and they said it would return in 100 or 200 years.

It has to do with the weather. We have heard of the Pineapple Express.. Well that is where concentrated water propels a jet stream of vapor from Hawaii to the Pacific Coast line of the main land of the United States.  Usually laying low in the clouds.

Usually it is a low lying jet stream and this one was carrying water from Hawaii, it hit the Sierra Nevada Mountains and melted the snow and the water flowed down the west side of the mountain and filled the rivers and lakes and valleys, the last month of the year 1861. They said it went from British Columbia to Mexico. … but Sacramento got the worse of it..  the area was 300 miles by 20 miles they said. Drown out towns, killed people, as well as farm animals and pets… Miles and miles of it.. Only one who felt it was coming and headed for high ground was American Natives.. 

Well, that triggered my memory of when I was living in National City, Ca.. just out side of San Diego, 1961.  We lived in a alley like area that had 6 small homes at a dead end.

I remember for over 2 weeks people were passing the word of a huge flood, that was coming.. and it would flood all of San Diego County.  I forgot the exact date they thought it would happen. It was suppose to hit about 11am.   The neighbors were talking about it seriously a week before… and then on that date, I saw them putting ladders up and putting chairs on top of their roofs.  I am serious..  really… kids and adults.  At 10am, they all were on top of their house in the chairs.

For some reason Bill (my husband at the time) and I did not believe in all of this…we went on with the day, like normal.

At sundown, some came down, leaving the ladders there .. ‘JUST IN CASE”…   No water came. And life went on.. I don’t remember what all was said about it after. But some were sure it was going to happen in the future.  Now I wonder if it had anything to do with the Great Food of 1862.  

If it did and they think well, maybe in 2061 for the 200 year deal..  Well, I won’t be here.  But it might not be a good idea to live in Sacramento Valley in 2061. Where most of the damage happen.