Los Alamitos – The Floods of 1952

Before they were channeled in high concrete walls, the San Gabriel, Los Angeles, Santa Ana  Rivers as well as Coyote Creek used to frequently flood during heavy rains.  More often than one might think,  these rains were enough to cause the rivers to change courses, only to later revert back during another storm.   The Santa Ana River at times emptied into Anaheim Bay. The Los Angeles River at time emptied into Santa Monica Bay via the Ballona Creek course.  When Europeans first came to this area the river we know as the San Gabriel River emptied into the channel we now know as the Los Angeles River, and only Coyote and Los Cerritos Creeks emptied into Alamitos Bay.

After the deadly storms of 1914 or so, Congress ordered the installation of flood control districts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to construct concrete channels to harness the wild energy of these rivers. By 1950 the channels had been built as far as Lakewood (Del Amo Avenue) on the San Gabriel River and Buena Park, but still had not reached the Los Alamitos area.  By May 1951, the San Gabriel had been concrete channeled as far south as Spring Street.  Thus the area was still vulnerable when it was again hit hard by the heavy storms of 1952., as witness these photos.  (In the photo at the right, we are looking northeast from over present Rossmoor.  The first street on the bottom left is Chestnut, then we see the alley and Los Alamitos Boulevard.  Towards the top the large building is the Sugar Factory and beyond that are the open dairy lands where Los Al HS now stands.)

On 15 January 1952 the first helicopter unit arrives at Los Al Naval Air Station, also in 1952 a Reserve Air intelligence Unit came on board.

19 JAN 1952 — Press Telegram headlines read: Los Alamitos hit by crest; 2 more dead; evacuees returning as waters recede in Artesia area. (Section A, Page 1, Column 3)

Two days later the LA Times wrote:

21 JAN 1952 – LA Times, p.1 —

Hundreds Given Typhoid Shots at Los Alamitos.
Several hundred persons in the flooded community of Los Alamitos received inoculations from Navy nurses during the week end as a precaution against typhoid contamination of drinking water.
The volunteer fire station at Los Alamitos Blvd. and Green Street., one of the few buildings remaining above the crest of floodwaters, was crowded with townspeople, children and Navy personnel.
Two nurses from Camp Pendleton, Lts. Marion Kohler and Dorothy Mullen, supervised the mass inoculation, aided by 17 members of the Fire Department and by Navy Hospital corpsmen.
About 300 persons who were evacuated to the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station, mostly women and babies, received inoculations.
Although most of the floodwaters had drained away by last night, the fire station headquarters remained open all day, not only for the administering of shots but as a dispatching point for trucks and aid personnel.
Since most of the area’s drinking water comes from shallow wells, which might become contaminated from flooded septic tanks, the Navy warned residents to boil all drinking water during the coming week.
Good weather Saturday and yesterday speeded cleanup work in flooded homes and stores. Navy personnel and equipment from the nearby base aided in rehabilitation work.

During this and other floods, one of the biggest concerns was from the cow dung from all the local dairies that floated all about the floodwaters throughout the towns.   Longtime resident Marilyn Poe remembers having to wade through all the cow dung “and it was not a pretty smell, let me tell you.”

Almost two months later more rains created more flooding for the area.  The March 16, 1952 Press-Telegram reported that “Heavy rains cause flooding in Los Alamitos and Long Beach.”  To the right is a picture from the Los Angeles Herald archives at USC, showing Howard Street, looking from Los Alamitos Boulevard.  And right below that is Cherry Street, looking from Katella.

One month later the local residents started taking matters into their own hands.

April 25, 1952 —Press-Telegram — LOS ALAMITOS, April 25—Citizens approved formation of a Los Alamitos County Water District by a vote of 216 to9 25 at the polls Thursday.
Proponents of the measure said the affirmative vote was a major step in the program to create a system under which a sewer system may be built in the community. Only sewage disposal systems now are cesspools and septic tanks .
Voters also elected the five directors of the district to be organized. Members and votes received are: James V. Bell, 194; Albert C. Brown, 173; A.J. Labourdette, 173; Russell Smirl 194; Roy Wright, 193.
The board members will meet soon to organize and lay plans for financing construction of sewer lines throughout the community, civic leaders said.

 

This particular flood was one of the last to damage the area.  The expanding suburban population had hurried up the approval of contracts to complete the concrete channelization of lower Coyote Creek and the San Gabriel River.  On February 9, 1953 — Two flood control projects on Coyote Creek and the San Gabriel River are authorized by the LA County Flood Control District.  A start date is announced for the project on May 24.  The strengthening of the levees into
concrete lined channels makes much of the flat land in what will be Rossmoor and much of Los Alamitos far more desirable for housing.

Prior to this the San Gabriel concrete channel had only been constructed as far south as Lakewood. In May 1951  flood control work for San Gabriel and Coyote Creek Channels pushed from Lakewood to Spring Street. New mechanized paving processes make this a much more feasible process than previously. so Corps of Engineers and County Flood Control engineers make sure most of the southern reaches of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers are lined with concrete.

Upon the start of construction, developer Ross Cortese started making plans to develop the Lakewood Rancho (Spring St., east of Studebaker) and then Rossmoor.