4 ms·

Great California, Nevada, Oregon Flood of 1862

12 points by olivermarks 4y ago

bell-cot 4y ago
> ...At least 4,000 people were estimated to have been killed in the floods in California, which was roughly 1% of the state population at the time... CA's current population is ~40,000,000. Imagine the reactions to a flood which killed ~400,000 of them.
- vondur 4y ago
  It was flooding like this which prompted the construction of the Los Angeles riverbed system.
  - bell-cot 4y ago
    From the descriptions - 5,000+ square miles flooded in the Central Valley, 1/4 or so of all taxable property in the entire state destroyed, etc. - I'm thinking that LA's riverbed system might fall short by an order of magnitude or two against another 1862-level flood.
CodeWriter23 4y ago
Does that mean the Industrial Revolution has been causing extreme weather right from the very start?
- olivermarks 4y ago
  that's hilarious!
- aatharuv 4y ago
  No, it means that there were extreme weather events going on even without the industrial revolution in full swing. Extreme weather is just going to be far more common https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate#:~:text=Rising%20global%20average%20temperature%20is,with%20human%2Dinduced%20climate%20change https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate#:~:te.... The 500 year flood is going to be a 100 year flood and a 100 year flood is going to be a once a decade flood.
  - 2devnull 4y ago
    We have to be very careful with our language. Extreme weather “is likely to be, based on current models,” more common. We do not know, and overselling our certainty becomes ammunition for the “we can’t know anything” crowd.
- throwaway313313 4y ago
  From the Wikipedia page: "The storm was not an unprecedented occurrence. Geologic evidence has been found that massive floods, of equal or greater magnitude to the 1861–1862 event, have occurred in California roughly every 100 to 200 years."
tanseydavid 4y ago
Interesting take-away quote from the article: "The floods followed a 20-year-long drought."
- npunt 4y ago
  Water does not absorb into parched dirt nearly as well as wet dirt. It’s a big contributor to flooding when rainfall finally appears, as the water has nowhere to go.
2devnull 4y ago
For an interesting local take on this era: http://www.sandylydon.com/new-page-16 http://www.sandylydon.com/new-page-16
- olivermarks 4y ago
  absolutely brutal decade! The Flood of 1862, The Drought of 1863-1864, Wildfires of 1865, two large earthquakes and a Smallpox epidemic to finish off the decade.
  - 2devnull 4y ago
    And then, like now, the beauty of the state — or the lure it has, for it seems to be something more than just beauty — brings ever more people. Earthquakes, floods, fires, droughts; where do I sign up?!
    - olivermarks 4y ago
      It all seems so innocent and calm here until suddenly it's not!
      - FrontierPsych 4y ago
        meh. Tornado Alley = every damn year. Snow and cold weather from Nevada to the East Coast except for Florida...every damn year. Hurricanes, every year or two - no thank you. California - a flood every 200 years, an earthquake every hundred or so years. I'm standing pat on my hand. I'm in SoCal for good. If there's a flood, I know all the high places around me, I'm no dunce, I will drive to those places. And they ain't far - no traffic jams - only 10-15 blocks away, but not too many people know about it. Lots of parking. Massive earthquake - ok that would suck but I have a lot of food and water squirreled away. These places would not be found by roving bands of hungry men ready to kill for it, if it came to that. So keep your snow, keep your tornadoes, keep your hurricanes.

12 points by olivermarks 4y ago

> ...At least 4,000 people were estimated to have been killed in the floods in California, which was roughly 1% of the state population at the time... CA's current population is ~40,000,000. Imagine the reactions to a flood which killed ~400,000 of them.

vondur 4y ago
It was flooding like this which prompted the construction of the Los Angeles riverbed system.
- bell-cot 4y ago
  From the descriptions - 5,000+ square miles flooded in the Central Valley, 1/4 or so of all taxable property in the entire state destroyed, etc. - I'm thinking that LA's riverbed system might fall short by an order of magnitude or two against another 1862-level flood.

CodeWriter23 4y ago

Does that mean the Industrial Revolution has been causing extreme weather right from the very start?

olivermarks 4y ago
that's hilarious!
aatharuv 4y ago
No, it means that there were extreme weather events going on even without the industrial revolution in full swing. Extreme weather is just going to be far more common https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate#:~:text=Rising%20global%20average%20temperature%20is,with%20human%2Dinduced%20climate%20change https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate#:~:te.... The 500 year flood is going to be a 100 year flood and a 100 year flood is going to be a once a decade flood.
- 2devnull 4y ago
  We have to be very careful with our language. Extreme weather “is likely to be, based on current models,” more common. We do not know, and overselling our certainty becomes ammunition for the “we can’t know anything” crowd.
throwaway313313 4y ago
From the Wikipedia page: "The storm was not an unprecedented occurrence. Geologic evidence has been found that massive floods, of equal or greater magnitude to the 1861–1862 event, have occurred in California roughly every 100 to 200 years."

tanseydavid 4y ago

Interesting take-away quote from the article: "The floods followed a 20-year-long drought."

npunt 4y ago
Water does not absorb into parched dirt nearly as well as wet dirt. It’s a big contributor to flooding when rainfall finally appears, as the water has nowhere to go.

2devnull 4y ago

For an interesting local take on this era: http://www.sandylydon.com/new-page-16 http://www.sandylydon.com/new-page-16

olivermarks 4y ago
absolutely brutal decade! The Flood of 1862, The Drought of 1863-1864, Wildfires of 1865, two large earthquakes and a Smallpox epidemic to finish off the decade.
- 2devnull 4y ago
  And then, like now, the beauty of the state — or the lure it has, for it seems to be something more than just beauty — brings ever more people. Earthquakes, floods, fires, droughts; where do I sign up?!
  - olivermarks 4y ago
    It all seems so innocent and calm here until suddenly it's not!
    - FrontierPsych 4y ago
      meh. Tornado Alley = every damn year. Snow and cold weather from Nevada to the East Coast except for Florida...every damn year. Hurricanes, every year or two - no thank you. California - a flood every 200 years, an earthquake every hundred or so years. I'm standing pat on my hand. I'm in SoCal for good. If there's a flood, I know all the high places around me, I'm no dunce, I will drive to those places. And they ain't far - no traffic jams - only 10-15 blocks away, but not too many people know about it. Lots of parking. Massive earthquake - ok that would suck but I have a lot of food and water squirreled away. These places would not be found by roving bands of hungry men ready to kill for it, if it came to that. So keep your snow, keep your tornadoes, keep your hurricanes.