SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It starts to rain, and it doesn’t stop. Day after day after day. The rivers keep rising. Mud, ash and burned logs from recent wildfires clog the rapidly rising channels. Levees overtop or burst. Dams strain or buckle. Neighborhoods are submerged. Flood waters wash over freeways.
Entire California cities are cut off from each other.
By the time the waters recede, dozens are dead and the damage is in the billions.