Kern River floods can destroy but they can also help build

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – The great flood in Bakersfield in 1868 didn’t merely destroy things – it actually helped build, too. Here’s part two. The Kern River’s flow might seem pretty powerful right now, but consider a flood so powerful it can deliver the lumber 80 miles — enough for a log cabin. It was December 1867, and, just like today, storms had blown staggering amounts of rain, snow and ice into the southern Sierra Nevada. Riverbanks were overflowing in Bakersfield – but then all of a sudden the flow slowed to a trickle. Townsfolk sent a rider up through…