Christmas Flood destroys NorCal

Disaster / Destruction

Cataclysmic floods, unhindered by an unbuilt dam, decimate the greater Central Valley region.

Nixon, lukewarm on the California Water Project's expansions and more interested in other forms of infrastructure spending, fails to secure the bond money required to start construction on the Oroville Dam. The dam, which would have otherwise prevented a disastrous flood, does not exist.   Nixon declares an emergency and orders evacuations, but little can be done. Thousands die across three states. Cities and towns in California's rural northern regions are wiped off the map, and remain depopulated for decades to come. Agricultural damage in the Central Valley is particularly severe. Federal aid money is slow to come and seems to vanish into thin air when it does finally arrive.