Great Flood of 1862
January 2021
Flood agents – do you know what historic flood would make Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey look like a duck pond? Was it in Florida? Louisiana? Mississippi? Not even close. It was the Great Flood of 1862 in…wait for it…California!
The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest recorded flood in the history of California, Nevada, and Oregon. It occurred following several weeks of continuous rain and snow that began in Oregon in November of 1861 and continued into January 1862. These weather conditions contributed to flooding that spanned from the Columbia River in western Oregon to the city of San Diego, over 1,000 miles away, and also impacted a handful of interior states. California state legislators had to row to work at the Capital in Sacramento for several weeks before temporarily relocating to San Francisco so much of the city could be raised on average 10 feet. You can still visit the “underground city” if you ever visit Old Town Sacramento.
Think it can’t happen again? The Multi Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says that based on geologic evidence and historical data, an extreme ‘ARkStorm’, similar to the Great Flood of 1862, could again inundate California, causing up to $725 Billion in losses.
So, the next “Big One” in California may not be an earthquake, but a catastrophic flooding event of biblical proportions. While we all hope such a storm never again hits the West Coast, a flood insurance policy from
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private flood insurance program like
EZ Flood® enables you and your clients to thoughtfully explore options for reducing financial risk in the event of a flood loss.