Los Angeles flood of 1938

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The Los Angeles flood of 1938 was one of the largest floods in the history of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties in southern California. The flood was caused by two Pacific storms that swept across the Los Angeles Basin in February–March 1938 and generated almost one year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. Between 113 and 115 people were killed by the flooding. The Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers burst their banks, inundating much of the coastal plain, the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, and the Inland Empire. Flood control structures spared parts of Los Angeles County from destruction, while Orange and Riverside Counties experienced more damage. The flood of 1938 is considered a 50-year flood. It caused $78 million of damage ($1.78 billion in 2025 dollars), making it one of the costliest natural disasters in Los Angeles' history. In response to the floods, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies began to channelize local...

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