Apr 28
Obispan Dodges Death As Bolt Hits Pillow One San Luis Obispo man escaped death by the bare margin of a whim during the heavy electrical storm her Tuesday night. If Andrew Chessmar, 1841 Slack street hadn’t decided to leave the comfort of the davenport in his living room to read in a nearby chair, he …
Feb 22
Periodically big storms come in and wreak havoc with piers. For example in 1907 the Oilport pier, in what is now known as Shell Beach was demolished by a fierce storm. The pier at Port San Luis is usually the most sheltered in the region but thirty years ago no place was immune. The winter …
Mar 15
Afternoon papers put special pressure on finding images the same day. If snow fell a phone call might come in before sunrise to get out and find a picture by first light and hustle back to the paper to develop, edit and print so the presses could run at noon with a picture from the …
Aug 08
Tales retold several times often wander from the truth, it is always good to get as close to the original source as possible. The now forgotten 1907 community of Oilport is often recalled in stories that use “tidal wave”. When the words Tidal Wave or Tsunami surface in a story it has the potential to …
Mar 21
March weather came in like a lion in 1976 and was documented on the front page of the then Telegram-Tribune. Glad we didn’t have to get out the set of snow tires this year. Imagine a snowy Cuesta Grade, without a center divider. In 1922 a cold storm brought snow to the streets of San …
May 28
May, 24, 1969 40 years ago Lopez Lake was dedicated, but the dam had already saved the south county. In past flood years nothing slowed the raging waters of the grand arroyo. Old flood photos are spectacular, water smashing through the old town of Arroyo Grande. Sometimes dunites were isolated for days until the creek …
Jan 29
If you are tired of seeing stories about rain, this is the last post on the floods of ’69. I was trying to recreate the relentless nature of the storms with the daily postings but after this I am returning to the usual three posts a week cycle. It takes longer to research items when …
Jan 28
January 28, 1969 Below the brand new Lopez dam flooding was unusually light. Upstream 78-year-old Heinie Nelson was fighting to survive. A preliminary report had appeared the day before but this edition had a fuller account. Quoting from the Gilbert Moore story: “Friday night,” said Heinie, “the first thing that went was the pump. Then …
Jan 27
Elisha Holmes, (left) and Elbert Williams (house in background) both lost homes in Paso Robles. January 27, 1969 This time it was the North County’s turn. It is typical for Santa Margarita to hold the mark for most rainfall in the county but in this 24-hour period Paso Robles edged into the lead with 2.01 …
Jan 26
January 26, 1969 The then Telegram-Tribune did not have a Sunday edition in the 1960′s, but that did not stop the epic rain. The water kept rising, this time the North County was hit hard. Reporter/Photographer Michael Raphael made the photo above Sunday in the North County. If you recognize the location add a comment. …
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