Map showing locations of damaging landslides in Alameda County, California, resulting from 1997-98 El Nino rainstorms

Heavy rainfall associated with a strong El Nino caused over $150 million in landslide damage in the 10-county San Francisco Bay region during the winter and spring of 1998. A team of USGS scientists collected information on landslide locations and damage costs. In Alameda County more than $20 million in damages were assessed. Debris flows occurred in rural portions of the county, but were only responsible for $400 thousand in damages.