Residents along the Mississippi River are no strangers to overflows and flooding during the spring thaw and rains. Since the early 18th century, settlers have built levees and floodwalls along the 2,000 mile long waterway to try and control it. However, in years with record-breaking rainfall, like 1927 and 1993, trying to tame the river becomes impossible. Mark Twain wrote that if the Mississippi were a "little European river... it would just be a holiday job... to wall it, and pile it, and dike it, and tame it down, and boss it around... But this ain't that kind of a river."
Flood of 1927
The Mississippi and its swollen tributaries reached peak levels in April of 1927 and overflowed their banks. One by one, levees built to contain the river broke, and a wall of water pushed its way across Midwestern farmlands. The flood covered 27,000 square miles, an area about the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined. For two long months the water would remain above flood stage, leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes.
Flood of 1993
The flood of 1993 was one of the most devastating floods in United States history. More than double the normal amount of rainfall fell in the Midwest during the first half of the year, flooding over 16,000 square miles in nine states. Major flooding was confined to the Upper Mississippi due to the less than average level of inflow from Lower Mississippi tributaries.
Statistical Comparison
1927 Flood
1993 Flood
Human Loss
of Life246
47
Displaced People
700,000
74,000
Financial Loss
$347,000,000 in 1927
= $4.4 billion in 1993 dollars$7,500,536,000
Structural Damage
137,000 buildings
destroyed or damaged47,650 buildings
destroyed or damaged
Flooded Area
27,000 square miles
15,600 square miles
River Volume
2,500,000 cubic feet
of water per second1,000,000 cubic feet
of water per second (USGS)
Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers except where noted.
Images from the Flood, Then and Now
Refugees waiting in line for food at a Forrest City Refugee Camp, 1927
Library of Congress
Main Street, Greenville, 1927
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Refugees await evacuation in Vicksburg, 1927
National Archives
Finding shelter in a makeshift tent on a Hamburg levee, 1927
National Archives
Receiving water from a famp kitchen area in Baton Rouge, 1927
Louisiana State University
Alexandria residents return to submurged homes
Federal Emergency Management Agency/Andrea Booher
Crossing the river by car becomes impossible in Quincy, 1993
Federal Emergency Management Agency/Andrea Booher
In St. Louis, a simple request, 1993
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Filling sandbags in St. Charles, 1993
Federal Emergency Management Agency/Andrea Booher
Floodwaters in St. Genevieve, 1993
Federal Emergency Management Agency/Andrea Booher
My American Experience
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