Who Knew #16 The Baldwin Hills Disaster

So what’s the craziest disaster in Los Angeles that you may not ever have heard of?
Well, how about the Baldwin Hills flood that took place 52 years ago.


The Baldwin Hills Dam was a reservoir that supplied drinking water to West L.A residents. On Dec. 14, 1963 the Baldwin Hills Dam collapsed with the fury of a thousand cloudbursts, sending a 50-foot wall of water down slamming into homes and cars . It took approximately 77 minutes for the dam to empty out its 300 millions gallons of water. In the ensuing flood, 277 homes were destroyed and 5 lives were lost.

This disaster was the first such live aerial coverage of a breaking news event.

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library