Imperial Valley press., 1931-12-29
PACIFIC COAST
RECEIVERS FROM
SEVERE STORM
Heavy Damages More
Than Offset BY Bene-
fits To Agriculture.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 20. UP)-
The Pacific coast, deluged by rain
and snow, surveyed flooded homes
and farm lands today as it began
slowly recovering from one of the
worst storms in years.
Rail lines torn by avalanches,
| hundreds of motorists marooned in
unprecedented snow packs, rivers
| flowing at peak capacity and at
many points breaking their banks.
and rainfall that shattered long
standing records were left behind
| by the angry elements.
Crops ruined by floods and prop
erty damage along the coast from
pounding breakers brought til e
heaviest losses. But the rains proved
a boon to agriculture in many
places and filled dams and reser-
voirs with millions of dollars worth
of water.
| Unsettled weather remained h e
prediction for today, but the storm
that came down out of the North
| Pacific now centers over Southern
Idaho, heading eastward, and may
cause further damage. Weather Of
ficials were confident the worst OF
the disturbance was over.
Rivers and streams. however, are
not expected to reach their high
est flow for two or three days and
the fact that many were now at
capacity caused grave concern.
Melting SHOWS running down from
the mountains may add to flood
| damage already counted in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Trains held fast in the Sierra
Nevada mountains by snow began
coming through to San Francisco
and airmail planes resumed partial
schedules as California emerged
from isolation. East and west mail
planes were held back by bliZzards
for eight successive days, the long
est sustained delay in the history
! of the service.
Three deaths in California were
attributed directly to the storm.
Miss Oris Schmidt, l6, Yuba City,
was killed when her automobile ov-
erturned in the rain. John Bronck,
Is, dairy employee, was drowned
in the swollen Napa river after re-
fusing to leave his cabin Mrs
Grace Wright, al, state employee
was drowned when a bus overturn-
ed in a flooded creek near San
Bernardino.
Snow Is Deep
Snow continued falling In the ST.
erras, where most of the motorists
and trains we're stalled Thousands
unable to move over the blocked
roads and tracks. turned to winter
sports to pass the time. At the
head of long line was Jack
Dempsey's expensive foreign car
and the former champion joined
in the mcrrymaking.
The snow at Sierra Summit meas
ured 18l inches and at Truckee
there were 65 inches. The heavy
drifts buried several hundred feet
of snowsheds and tracks along the
Southern Pacific right of way, hold
ing up trains.
The Severest crop damage was in
the Salinas river valley where thou
sands of acres of artichokes were
submerged. The nearby Pajaro
river valley suffered its worst flood
in l6 years when levees broke.
The Monterey peninsula was dam
aged by giant breakers whic h
hurled bouldcrs against bulwarks of
coast cities, ripping up pavement
and carrying away pier sections
Sand was swept from the famous
Del Monte beach and masses of
rock left behind Damage was es-
timatcd at 100000.
Ships at sea Jared better than
might have been expected in view
of the intensity of the gales. None
was reported in danger.