A SUPER El Niño Triggered History’s DEADLIEST Disaster. THIS One Might Be Worse

Do you still think El Niño is somewhere far away? That it forms somewhere out in the ocean and has nothing to do with you? People in California may have thought the same thing in early February 1998. From February 6 to 8, the region was hit by another series of powerful storms caused by one of the strongest El Niño events on record. The order was simple — leave. A landslide had already destroyed several buildings, and geologists feared that part of the hillside could collapse. Residents of around 140 homes were evacuated. No one could tell them when it would be safe to return. Thirty-one counties received federal disaster status, and the total damage amounted to more than $300 million in today’s dollars.