(Photo: AP/Appeal-Democrat) In early January 1997, catastrophic flooding hit parts of Northern California, forcing the evacuation of more than 130,000 people and causing damage to about 30,000 residential and 2,000 commercial structures. Damage was estimated at $1.8 billion. This is a Jan. 10, 1997, photo of flooded orchards in Yuba County near Arboga, Calif. Thousands of acres of orchards, including peach, prune, walnut and apple, were flooded that January.