On December 14, 1963, the dam collapsed, spilling 300 million gallons of water into the hillsides that swept away houses and cars and left three dead. Most of Baldwin Village, including the historic Village Green community, was flooded as well. The crack in the dam was ultimately attributed to subsidence caused by overexploitation of the Inglewood oil field. The disaster caused the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power to phase out small local reservoirs, opting instead to store water in groundwater basins and behind the Hansen Dam in Lake View Terrace. Emma Zlotnikow, left, her daughter Annette and her husband Sol Zlotnikow, disheveled and wet after being rescued by helicopter from their garage roof at 3823 Cochran Ave. A wall of water from the broken dam came down the street, carrying their neighbor's car and forcing them up to their garage roof. Photo dated: Dec. 15, 1963.
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