Los Angeles River - Looking upstream from Laurel Canyon Avenue, showing wire and pipe protection which withstood the flood successfully. River mile 38.1. This image is from the Report on Engineering Aspects, Flood of March 1938 by the U. S. Engineer Office in Los Angeles and compiled in August 1938. The Los Angeles River and the river's tributaries flooded after a very wet rainy season and one particularly bad storm on March 1-3, 1938. The Report is a part of the Special Collections at CSU, Northridge and gives an extensive account of how different river channels reacted to the flood. After this flood, the Army Corps of Engineers set about insuring extensive flooding would not cause such extreme damage in the future. Image 29 in report. Black and white photograph. 3.5 x 4.5 in.