The Rain Wizard by Larry Dane Brimner

Author:Larry Dane Brimner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press

When rain began falling in San Diego, many people were caught unaware when normally dry washes became raging torrents of water.

Many of San Diego’s backcountry bridges—including this railroad bridge—were swept away.

HATFIELD WAS UNAWARE OF THE HAVOC THAT WAS VISITING THE CITY.

San Diego was cut off from the rest of the United States, the rest of the world.

On Tuesday night, the first human fatalities also were reported when a boat attempting to carry two women to safety hit a submerged post and capsized. “It was pitch dark,” reported the San Diego Union, “and although the rescuers were aided by the lanterns of those on shore, the women could not be found.”

Others lost their life savings. In the early twentieth century, many folks distrusted banks so much they stuffed their money into cans, which they buried in holes around their property. The rain washed away complete hillsides, as well as people’s fortunes. One tavern owner claimed to have lost $50,000 in gold when the San Diego River carried it out to sea.

At Morena, Hatfield was unaware of the havoc that was visiting the city. On Monday, he had telephoned a clerk at the water authority and told him that the rain so far was just a warm-up act to what he had planned. Then the phone went dead. He was left without a communication line or the knowledge of what was taking place sixty miles to the west.

The storm impacted not only cities along the entire Pacific coast of the United States but also those in Mexico. The mayor of Ensenada, a small fishing village in Baja California, about 83 miles south of San Diego, commented to a Union reporter, “It has only sprinkled in San Diego. . . . It is but a mere mist. We have had the heaviest rains in Ensenada in the memory of the oldest settler. For seven days and seven nights it not only rained, but it poured. . . . It must have been fully fifty inches!”

The public’s mood changed quickly in the face of the widespread devastation. Charles Cristadoro, in a January 19 letter to the editor, asked, “Can ‘Rainmaker’ Hatfield be held for damages?” Cristadoro’s was one voice among many.

Thursday, January 20, dawned with a shining sun and blue sky. Despite the surrounding destruction, moods were uplifted. Many suggested that it was time for Hatfield to go. However, to everyone’s disappointment, the clear weather was fleeting. By Tuesday, January 25, dark, heavy clouds hung again over the Pacific Ocean and once more began making their way to land.

For the first time in its history, Morena Reservoir held more than ten billion gallons of water. At the dam, Swenson measured the water’s depth at 137 feet. Hatfield, the cloud-attractor, unpacked a new batch of evaporating pans and continued his work dispatching a new load of chemical fumes into the air. Joel took advantage of the break in the weather to bury the used pans, raking the earth to disguise where they were hidden.

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