1969 — Feb 22-25, Heavy rain, Flooding and mudslides, esp. Orange Co., southern CA– 18

–13-18 Blanchard estimate.*

–18 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 185.
–12 Waananen. “Floods of January-February in Central and Southern California.” P. 15 in Reid.
–10 AP. “111 Is Flood Death Toll.” Daily Reporter, Ontario, CA. 2-26-1969, p. 1. [Includes Jan.]
— 9 Mudslides, Feb 25. UPI. “Nine Dead, 12,500 Flee,” The Argus, Fremont, CA, 2-26-1969, 1.

— 5 Big Bear, Feb 22. Exposure. Explorer Scouts and adult leader caught in storm on mt.
— 4 Mt. Baldy Village, Bear Creek. Earth slide crushed home of D. J. Stewart; man, 3 children.
— 1 San Bernardino area. Engineer drowned; carried away by a wash trying to help stalled motorist.
–>5 Silverado Canyon mudslide, Feb 25. Fire station being used as a shelter.
— 3 Locales not noted. Traffic accidents attributed to weather; notes “several” deaths.

*Our tally of rain, mudslide and flooding deaths from the locality breakouts comes to 13. If the deaths of the Explorer Scouts and their leader are included as exposure deaths resulting to the storm and becoming lost, then the total is eighteen.

Narrative Information

Waananen: “Severe flooding occurred again February 22-25 with extreme flooding on Santiago Creek and the lower Santa Ana River basins in Orange county. Flows in the Santa Ynez River basins again exceeded maximum flows of record, and new record flows occurred on the Salinas River. Twelve lives were lost as a direct result of the February floods in these basins.” (Waananen, A. O. “Floods of January-February in Central and Southern California.” 1969, p. 15.)

Sources

Associated Press. “111 Is Flood Death Toll.” Daily Reporter, Ontario, CA. 2-26-1969, p. 1. Accessed 4-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ontario-daily-report-feb-26-1969-p-48/

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Daily Report, Ontario, CA. “Man, 3 Children Die in Baldy Cabin.” 2-25-1969, p. 1. Accessed 4-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ontario-daily-report-feb-25-1969-p-1/

Reid, et al./USGS. Summary of Floods in the United States During 1969 (Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2030). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1975. Accessed 4-29-2020 at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/2030/report.pdf

San Bernardino Sun, CA. “Bodies of 4 Scouts, Adult Leader Found.” 5-19-1969, pp. 1 and 3. Accessed 4-28-2020 at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19690519&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–1

United Press International. “Nine Dead, 12,500 Flee,” The Argus, Fremont-Newark, CA, 2-26-1969, p. 1. Accessed 4-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/argus-feb-26-1969-p-1/