How a Community Met a Disaster: Yuba City Flood, December 1955

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Abstract
The Yuba City flood of December 1955 was the worst disaster to strike California since the San Francisco earthquake. Initial attempts to bolster the levees, with the assistance of the military from nearby Beale Air Force Base, were unsuccessful; but as the waters swept over the countryside, well-organized evacuation took place. Beale provided emergency technical rescue and relief service. The Red Cross established numerous shelters and several giant kitchens and mobile canteens. As the waters subsided, the local health department un dertook the massive task of arresting contamination and pollution, and the town contracted for the removal of the thousands of tons of debris. Flood post mortem suggests that long postponed control measures, including dam construc tion, might have staved off the disaster.—Ed.

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