- The winter rains hit California hard, soaking and flooding the fields and orchards.
- Rain means no work for the migrant workers; no work means no food for the thousands of starving families.
- People can't get dry, diseases thrive, and the cars die from having been soaked with water.
- Many grow desperate for food, resorting to robbery in order to survive.
- Landowners and merchants gather guns and tighten their security to protect themselves from the wrath of the workers and their families.
- Eventually the rain stops, but the families know there will be no work until springtime.