For an explanation of this project, read here.

Giant squid – also known also by their scientific name Architeuthis – have been the stuff of both legend and science for hundreds of years. Many willl be surprised as it dawns that the biggest catastrophic event likely to happen today in California is a flood caused by a rainstorm. We all know about the deal you make with earthquakes to live in California. The intense rainstorms sweeping in from the Pacific Ocean began to pound central California on Christmas Eve in 1861 and continued virtually unabated for 43 days. Geologic evidence shows that truly massive floods, caused by rainfall alone, have occurred in California every 100 to 200 years. The U.S. Geological Survey, Multi Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) uses hazards science to improve resiliency of communities to natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, floods and coastal erosion. A massive California rain event — one expected to occur once every 200 years — would far surpass destruction caused by a “Big One” earthquake, causing more than $700 billion in damage and hobbling the state’s economy for decades, federal scientists are warning. For thirty days and thirty nights the rain fell in unending torrents.