California faces steep increase in 'precipitation whiplash,' threatening infrastructure

From late 1861 through early 1862, a megaflood of historic proportions put large parts of the state of California underwater. The state's Central Valley, which is now one of the most productive agricultural ares in the country, became a vast inland lake. The city of Sacramento, which sits at the intersection of the American and Sacramento rivers, flooded, and remained under water for months. 

According to one account, one-quarter of the state's 800,000 cattle drowned in the flooding, and one-third of the state's property was destroyed.