International: Costly Cloudburst

Separating Bakersfield, Calif, and the San Joaquin Valley from the Mojave Desert are the Tehachapi Mountains, an ugly, arid range. Fortnight ago black clouds gathered over them. Early in the afternoon it began raining. Creek beds that had been white and dry all summer became lashing rivers. Oldtimers in the small towns along the canyon sensed high-water and set out for high ground. Sixty tramps on a freight train which had sided on a culvert grew restive as the sound of rushing water grew into a mighty...

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