In the last 90 days, California has received enough rainfall to call anend to the seven-year drought.
The statewide snowpack has reached 160 percent of its annual year-to-date average and the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada can be seen from Highway 198.
Visalia alone has seen nearly 8 inches of rain this season — and more is on the way.
But, if you think that’s a lot of rain, think again.
Sunday marks the 113th anniversary of the 1906 flood, which filled Visalia’s downtown streets with about a foot of water. The water didn't dissipate for 10 days.
Photos from the time show residents standing in knee-deep waters and floating on makeshift rafts.
Before Terminus Dam was built in the 1960s at Lake Kaweah, flood waters were the norm, said local historian Terry Ommen.
“People think of a flood as being a one in 100 years type of occurrence,” Ommen said. “No, no – not here.”
‘Flood of the century’
William Dean was 11 years old when flood waters came rushing in on Dec.22, 1955, to his home on Court Street.
Back then, Dean, now 74, said the land to the east of his home had not yet been developed for homes. Instead, a farmhouse and large cotton field filled the space.
In the early evening, Dean remembers his father calling him to the window.
A flood was headed their way.
“We actually saw the wave coming through the cotton and to the house,” Dean said.
He quickly decided to run and alert his neighbors of the incoming water.
For about 20 minutes, Dean went from house to house banging on doors. He finally got to the corner house and, because the waters had come up to his ankles,began to make his way back home.
“On the way back home, the water rose up to my waist. I had to hang on to fence posts and telephone poles,” he said. “My mom thought I was a goner.”
The family worked quickly to get valuables — including Christmas presents — off the ground. Dean’s father blew up innertubes and left them to float in the living room.
“I remember eating Christmas candy with our feet up looking out the window and watching the (neighboring) farmer move his furniture to higher ground,” Dean said. "They came and got us in an aluminum boat at around 10 that night."
That flood was the first of two that would hit the town in just as many months.
“We’re at the base of the Sierra Nevada and prior to the Terminus Dam being built, we were sort of at the mercy of the runoff of the Sierra,” Ommen said. “We didn’t have a reservoir to control the water coming out of the mountain. We were really vulnerable to whatever mother nature sent our way.”
Early rains in December 1955 led to the premature snowmelt, which caused the waters to come rushing into the Valley, Ommen said.
The water stuck around for six days.
Most of the state saw an impact, Ommen said.
“It was called the ‘flood of the century’ throughout the state,” he added.
Landscape-changing waters
Like Dean, many long-time Visalia residents still remember the day the flood hit.
Verna Furnas, then 22, was sick in bed.
She and her late husband, Uel Furnas, were living in their garage at the time while Uel finished building the rest of the home on North Atwood Street.
"I remember plain as day the neighbors said 'oh goodnight' when they woke and saw the water," she said.
Uel had to raise the mattress onto four chairs so his wife could remain in bed throughout the flood.
Furniture wasn't the only thing residents propped up out of the flood waters.
Kathy Todd Allen said her father, Alvin Todd, had to hoist her newly purchased piano onto bricks to keep it from damage.
Her father, who was a big wrestling fan, was so into the fight that Friday nightthat he didn't realize floodwaters were raising around him as he 'slugged it out' on the living room floor, Todd Allen said.
"It was terrible," she said. "It wasn't funny then."
Curtis White, 72, lived near Woodlake when the flood hit.
While his family's home was spared, he got a bird's eye view of the water making its wayonto the Valley floor.
White, then 9, and his father made their way to Dry Creek Road near Lemon Cove, a high spot above the water levels.
"We watched houses float down and cars rolling down the river," he said. "To me, it was pretty scary."
White said before the dam was built, he and his family were always on-watch for floodwaters.
"That flood changed the landscape of things around here," he said. "You'd get big 'ol boulders shooting around like cannonballs. It impressed a 9-year-old, I'll tell you that much."
A second coming
Just as families and business owners began to start picking up the pieces from the flood damage — a second flood struck.
In January, more rain came, sending even more runoff into the area, Ommen said.
“The ’55 flood was really a one-two punch for the town,” Ommen said. “Just when they were thinking the worst was over, (water) started coming again.”
On Jan.24, 1956, water started to pool on Main Street yet again.
"Core businesses were in downtown. It was ground zero for all this flooding," Ommen said. "If you wanted to shop, downtown was where you went. When the core of town is inundated with water, the whole town shuts down."
This time, a large tree that had been carried down from the mountains with the racing floodwaters became lodged in Mill Creek under the downtown area. The worst part: Authorities had no idea where the log was located.
“The community was frantic because everything was inundated with water and the water kept rising,” Ommen said. “At the same time, they were trying to figure out where the plug was.”
The log was found on the corner east of Court Street and Center Avenue and was able to be pulled out with heavy equipment.
During the search, vehicles were prohibited from traveling on flooded streets, Ommen said.
"(Vehicles) would create wakes and push the water over sandbags," he added. "It was a mess all around."
About 72 blocks were underwater, according to an article titled 'Nightmare in Visalia as Mill Creek Clogs' published in the Visalia Times-Delta.
The flood was dubbed the 'Five-Day Nightmare.'
Despite that major interruption on residents' daily lives, most people made light of the situation, according to Ommen.
"People got boats and paddled around. It was a fun time for kids" he added. "That flood was a big one, a lot of people had (lasting) experiences."
A flood of relief
The 1955-56 floods created an outcry among community members, according to a 1956 Visalia Times-Delta article.
"But to most Visalians the message was clear: these two floods within a month of each other were totally unnecessary. Terminus Dam would have prevented them, as well as other floods that have damaged this area since 1944 when its construction first was authorized by the Congress," statedthe article.
Another publication of photos from the December1955 flood also called for the building of the dam.
"Many editorials have been written on the causes, effects and future problems relating to the subject of this publication. All of these have been said better than we can say them. We can only underscore those who say 'Let's build Terminus Dam,'" stated the publication created by the Harding Printing Company.
The dam, which was completed in 1962, was a sigh of relief for residents.
"That's the downside of being in the Delta region, sometimes you get more water than you want," Ommen said."If the Terminus Dam should break, we are right in the path of destruction."
Calley Cederlof covers Tulare County schools, local governmentand business for the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @calleyc_vtd.Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.
