ABSTRACT
If the floods of 1934 were a localised warning, the storms of 1938 both justified previous actions and reinforced arguments for further action. Their timing was perfect, coming shortly after the initiation of programmes under the 1936 Flood Control Act, at a time of reappraisal. They were also a large, regional phenomenon, as big or bigger than the storms of 1914, and they were comparable to the computed capital flood peak based on a 50-year rainfall frequency: the whole of southern California was affected, not simply a small area of Los Angeles County. Furthermore, the events of 1938 were thoroughly chronicled, most notably by the United States Geological Survey (USGS; Troxell et al. 1942), the USACE (1938), the LACFCD (1938), the Conservation Association of Los Angeles County (1938), and the USDAFS (1939). The following description is based on data in these and related reports.
