Contents
Preface ix
Introduction to the Megastorm 1
...and to this book
Ch.1 History: The Great Flood of 1861-62 5
America's greatest natural disaster
Ch.2 Understanding California's AR-megastorms 17
What are they, what causes them, where do they come from?
Ch.3 The Talkin' Water Blues 27
How we imagine and describe storms and floods
Ch.4 Physical Impacts of California's Next Megastorm 45
An overview
Ch.5 Infrastructure Impacts of California's Next Megastorm 61
Loss of capabilities and services
Ch.6 Impacts on California Transportation and Travel 65
Ch.7 Impacts on California Energy and Fuels 81
Ch.8 Impacts on California Water Infrastructure 105
Ch.9 Impacts on California Communications 115
Ch.10 Impacts on California Populations, Shelter, and Supplies 121
Ch.11 Costs and Losses 131
Consequences for property, wealth, business, agriculture, revenue
Ch.12 Risks and Probabilities: 'All Bets Are On' 141
What are the actual odds of experiencing an AR-megastorm in California?
Ch.13 Planning and Preparedness for Individuals, Families and Households 149
Empowering the grass roots (this means us)
Ch.14 Preparedness for Communities 173
Grass has many roots (us, again)
Ch.15 Community-scale Roll-out 181
First experiences and TTEs from Tahoe / Reno and Ventura
Ch.16 State (and some Federal) Emergency Functions 185
An introduction
Ch.17 Lessons and a Perspective 193
Some history, assessment and opinion
Ch.18 On the Psychology of Risk 223
Ch.19 What I Would I Like to See 235
The author's suggestions, and advocacy, with a nod to USGS
Ch.20 Banish Confusion 265
Examining the root causes, including messaging, and resolving them
Epilogue 281
Acronyms and Abbreviations 283
Acknowledgements 289
About the Author 290
