Melodi
Disaster Cat
Oh I forgot to mention, all over many California cities (and some rural areas) there are "missing" and "dry" creeks and even rivers that were covered up during the great periods of urbanization of the early 20th century.
In the rural areas, these are often just dry "gullies" that no one thinks about much and often run right behind houses, farm buildings, or across roads.
One group house I lived in, in Oakland California was nearly destroyed by a "missing creek" that suddenly came back up to the surface and filled the basement while I was still living there.
After it was all over we got an old geological map and it the old creek/small river was right there, it has just been paved under and "forced" underground until suddenly it wasn't.
The "creek" behind my parent's house (thankfully over an acre behind it) was at least 10 to 15 feet of a mostly dry channel with a tiny bit of water in it. Then those historic rains hit that I mentioned and the water came roaring up over the top of the entire channel and light flooded the area near the edges - it swept EVERYTHING out of the creek bred.
In nearby San Louis Obispo, historical buildings built along a slightly larger "creek" channel were swept away, the city later condemned all the land around that channel and has built lovely walkways, parks and seating. But the only businesses allowed are food carts and other temporary structures.
Anyway, my point is that there are lots of hidden small rivers and creeks, especially in the urban areas just waiting for enough water for them to run again. Before the areas were urbanized most of them only ran part of the year, and were dry the other part - but the only people in the area knew not to camp near the edges in the rainy season.
In the rural areas, these are often just dry "gullies" that no one thinks about much and often run right behind houses, farm buildings, or across roads.
One group house I lived in, in Oakland California was nearly destroyed by a "missing creek" that suddenly came back up to the surface and filled the basement while I was still living there.
After it was all over we got an old geological map and it the old creek/small river was right there, it has just been paved under and "forced" underground until suddenly it wasn't.
The "creek" behind my parent's house (thankfully over an acre behind it) was at least 10 to 15 feet of a mostly dry channel with a tiny bit of water in it. Then those historic rains hit that I mentioned and the water came roaring up over the top of the entire channel and light flooded the area near the edges - it swept EVERYTHING out of the creek bred.
In nearby San Louis Obispo, historical buildings built along a slightly larger "creek" channel were swept away, the city later condemned all the land around that channel and has built lovely walkways, parks and seating. But the only businesses allowed are food carts and other temporary structures.
Anyway, my point is that there are lots of hidden small rivers and creeks, especially in the urban areas just waiting for enough water for them to run again. Before the areas were urbanized most of them only ran part of the year, and were dry the other part - but the only people in the area knew not to camp near the edges in the rainy season.