LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In December 1964 extreme weather events coincided, bringing major flooding to much of northern California, Oregon and surrounding states.
A hard freeze piled up snow in the mountains then a warm tropical storm dropped record-breaking amounts of rain.
The rain runoff and the snow melt combined to create a 100-year flood all along the north coast.
Lake County suffered far less than did coastal counties to the north and west, where entire towns along the rivers were swept away and some people were stranded for weeks afterward.
Nineteen people died in California. No one died in Lake County, but the rain poured down here too. Lake County’s 18,000 residents watched the water rise in the creeks and flood over the banks all around the county.
By mid-December George Turnbull’s rain gauge in Lakeport had recorded 9.85 inches since the first of July.
In the first three weeks of December, he recorded less than an inch.
Then the storms hit.
In one week Lakeport received 6.21 inches and parts of the south county received from six to ten inches.
Bruce Bishop reported 10 inches had fallen in twenty-four hours at Anderson Springs.
By the end of December, storms had dumped nearly 13 inches in Lakeport, and rainfall totals approached the yearly average.
Scotts Creek arises in the hills west of Lakeport, flows north and west through Scotts Valley to Blue Lakes, then turns east through Tule Lake, then turns southeast and flows through Rodman Slough into Clear Lake. The flood waters inundated low-lying areas all along Scotts Creek
A levee on Scotts Creek broke, releasing water, mud and debris into adjoining orchards. In Scotts Valley a bridge approach washed out and debris clogged Scotts Valley Road.
Five feet of water covered Scotts Valley Road at Blue Lakes. Flood waters and mudslides flowing down from surrounding hills wreaked havoc on resorts at Blue Lakes.
Highway 20 at Tule Lake and Bachelor Valley were closed for two days.
The California Department of Water Resources later reported that “along the streams tributary to Clear Lake about 3,000 acres of land, almost entirely agricultural, were flooded as the result of overflows from Scotts, Kelsey, Adobe, Middle and Clover Creeks.
The heaviest losses occurred along Scotts Creek, where pear and nut orchards were severely damaged. No residential or commercial damage was reported in this area, but considerable damage occurred to county roads and bridges, with widespread erosion of land and levees.”
Orchards, homes and other buildings were flooded with water and mud. Some pear growers reported 20, 50, even as many as 130 trees washed away.
Volunteers Ted Lockie, Ricky Clay, Virgil Watson and Mel Oldham used a combination of trucks and boats to ferry food and supplies to twenty-five people stranded at the Blue Lakes Lodge.
About 10 people at Lake Pillsbury were stranded when floods and mudslides washed out Elk Mountain Road and several bridges.
In Lakeport the massive runoff overwhelmed culverts, gutters and the sewer system. Forbes Creek flooded Main Street near Martin and Armstrong.
The Lakeport Theater (now the Soper-Reese Theatre) and other businesses along Main Street were flooded or protected by sandbags. Sewer collection lines backed up and overflowed through manholes into the street, prompting editorials urging improvements to the sewer system.
The Record-Bee reported that “Sixth and Martin Sts., looked like full-fledged rivers, as they currented toward Clear Lake, which took on the semblance of gigantic mudhole.”
A second storm a few days later dropped nearly 5.5 inches in Lakeport, causing more slides and flooding and closing some roads that had been opened briefly after the first storm.
Early estimates put the damages at a minimum of $2,000,000. Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown declared Lake County as disaster area, along with 24 other northern California counties.
As the stream flows diminished, the water flowed into Clear Lake, raising the lake level by about seven feet. The Rumsey gauge showed the lake level at 8.55 feet by January 7 and rimlanders worried that wind-generated wave action would bring damage along the shore.
However, the lake’s low level before the storms allowed the stream flows to rise without reaching major flood stage along the shore.
Rainfall after the December-January storms remained low and Clear Lake’s level dropped instead of rising.
Clear Lake has reached much higher levels a few times since 1964, going over eleven feet in 1983, 1986 and 1998.
Lakeport voters narrowly approved a sewer improvement bond measure in March.
Jan Cook has lived in Lake County for about 40 years. She works for the Lake County Library, is the editor of the Lake County Historical Society's Pomo Bulletin and is a history correspondent for Lake County News. If you have questions or comments please contact Jan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .