Scientists are warning that the "big one" could hit California in the next 40 years, but they're not talking about an earthquake. They say, thanks to climate change, California could soon see a disastrous megaflood.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain co-authored new research indicating we may see a megaflood similar to the one that turned streets into rivers in Sacramento in 1862.
"What we found at this point is that climate change has approximately doubled the likelihood of experiencing a megaflood event," Swain said.
Swain said the recent flooding in Death Valley is just a fraction of the damage we might experience in the future following weeks of heavy rains.
"You'd see a lot of flooding," Swain said. "You'd see widespread mudslides and debris flows in the mountains, particularly in areas that have recently been affected by wildfires. You'd also see a lot of coastal flooding."
In the Bay Area, preparations are already underway.
"We’re looking at building setback levees, at building what we call flood walls or berms that are set back and give the creeks more area where it would be allowed to flood," Rechelle Blank with the Santa Clara Valley Water District said.
Other solutions include elevating houses, directing flood water into parks and restoring wetlands at the edge of the Bay to cope with sea level rise. But solutions take time.
When asked what would happen if a megaflood hit the Bay Area in the next year, San Francisco Estuary Institute Executive Director Warner Chabot said, "I think the scientific term would be we'd be in very deep doo-doo."
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"We're not fully prepared for a megaflood event," he continued. "We would see enormous damage done to our airports, our freeways, our water treatment plants. Underserved communities would suffer severe flooding. We'd have a major infrastructure catastrophe."
