Opinion: It’s flooding in California. But the 1938 flood was worse
My umbrella was wide and sturdy, my rain slicker insulated and as yellow as a Minion. I wore thick Dickies and my good pair of Doc Martens. It didn’t matter. Just minutes after I stepped out of my Yukon to walk around Parque de los Niños in Placentia’s Atwood barrio last week, I was thoroughly soaked. A strong wind made the rain whip at a 45-degree angle. Drops hit the baseball diamond with such force that mud leaped into the air. … Eighty-five years ago this March, this historic Mexican American neighborhood took the brunt of the deadliest flood in Southern California history. Five days of heavy storms caused all of the region’s major rivers — the Los Angeles, the San Gabriel and especially the Santa Ana — to overflow their banks.
-Written by Gustavo Arellano, columnist for the Los Angeles Times.