After the Flood, Images of Impacts and Resilience in California
This article was authored by a 3rd party not related to PlanetVoters.com and any opinions or views expressed are not a reflection of PlanetVoters.com.
By Liza Gross
May 16, 2024
Fourteen months ago, a catastrophic flood upended thousands of lives in Pájaro, a small Central California farmworker town filled with immigrants who speak mostly Spanish or Indigenous languages. A relentless series of atmospheric rivers transformed the inviting Pájaro River into a malevolent foe that charged through a crumbling levee and engulfed the coastal community in floodwaters.
Regional and state officials knew a levee break was inevitable—it had failed at least four times before—but didn’t prioritize desperately needed repairs for a town populated by low-income farmworkers. The flood damaged hundreds of structures, leaving families homeless, unemployed and traumatized.
Construction crews will finally start reinforcing the levee this summer, but the project will take years to complete. And a flood is just one of many potential climate disasters threatening Pájaro and the agricultural industry the community depends on to survive. Last year was the planet’s hottest on record, setting the stage for more frequent and severe extreme weather events, heavier rains and longer lasting droughts, heat waves and wildfires that fill the air with toxic smoke.
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