-
Ferndale, looking north toward Fernbridge. -
The Jacobsen family herds its cattle onto Cannibal Island Bridge in search of higher ground. -
A crane works to free a logjam along Fernbridge, one of the only water crossings in Humboldt County to survive the flood. -
The old Sarten House and Barn sits under more than five feet of water near Alton. -
The south stretch of the Rio Dell Bridge as it falls into the Eel River. -
Welcome to Rio Dell. -
U.S. Highway 101 sits completely submerged in Fortuna. -
A rescue boat sets out near Alton. -
Ginger Leonardo’s dad, Tony Leonardo Sr. (waving a flag), and her uncle John Nunes were on the roof when the plane flew over and photographer Neil Kulbert snapped a shot. The Nunes and Leonardo families were trapped in their attic for three days and two nights. The Leonardos’ house survived, and after the flood Mennonites from the Bay Area helped clean it up. The Nunes moved into another house they owned and started the dairy back up. But the Leonardos stayed in the town of Ferndale for six years. Tony Leonardo Sr. worked at the Fortuna veneer mill and tended bar at the Victorian Village Inn, where Ginger’s mom, Gerry, also waitressed. In 1970 her parents, sister and brothers went back to the old house and resumed dairying. Now someone else lives there. -
The Nunes and Leonardo families were trapped in their attic for three days and two nights. -
The Eel River sawmill in an aerial photograph taken before the flood. -
Eel River saw mill was completely destroyed. -
Robert Knap Sr. managed to pluck his daughter’s toy tractor and his wife’s purse from the debris near Metropolitan.
