Rare mega storm could overwhelm LA-area dam and flood dozens of cities, experts say

LOS ANGELES - Scientists call it California's "other big one," and they say it could cause three times as much damage as a major earthquake ripping along the San Andreas fault.

Although it might sound absurd to those who still recall five years of withering drought and mandatory water restrictions, researchers and engineers warn that California may be due for rain of biblical proportions - or what experts call an ARkStorm.

This rare mega storm - which some say is rendered all the more inevitable because of climate change - would last for weeks and send more than 1.5 million people fleeing as floodwaters inundated cities and formed lakes in the Central Valley and Mojave Desert, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Officials estimate the structural and economic damage from an ARkStorm (for Atmospheric