On this date 87 years ago, the Los Angeles flood of 1938 devastated the region, washing away homes and leading to lasting changes in Southern California’s flood control infrastructure.
The flooding that struck the Santa Clarita Valley in March 1938 and the Central Valley the preceding year were deemed by a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers “more severe and destructive than any of the preceding 20 years .”
The trouble began, as it usually does with Southern California rainstorms, in late February. The first storm on Feb. 27 and 28 lasted until the morning hours of the start of the new month, dropping approximately 4.4 inches of rain. Then, a second storm system swept through Los Angeles County on March 1 and 2.
In total, L.A. County would take an astonishing 10.69 inches of rain in less than five days, exceeding records set over the previous 60 years…