Statistics, Stories, and Chronology from the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1993
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1996 Heritage Press/Great River Publishing. All rights reserved
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1993 Mississippi Flood CHRONOLOGY
March
10
The
National Weather Service predicts below normal precipitation for the summer:
“but above average rainfall could mean flooding, given soil saturation, spring
snow depths, and normal spring rains.”
June 10
The
first 8” rainstorms begin in
Dakotas, Wisconsin and
Minnesota
June
20
The
first dam bursts, submerging 100 homes to their rooftops on the Black River in
Western Wisconsin. The upper 200 miles of the Mississippi River are closed to
river traffic. Locks and Dams are not operating.
July
5
The
bridge at Keokuk closes.
July 10
The
bridge closes at Fort Madison,
Iowa, which has experienced rain for 54 of 58 days. 830
miles of Mississippi
River are closed to boat traffic between Cairo, Illinois and St. Paul,
Minnesota. Over 100 rivers feeding into the Mississippi River flood by July
14. Unprecedented high-water on the Missouri River, Des Moines River,
Illinois, Iowa, Skunk, Rock and Raccoon rivers (all tributaries of the
Mississippi River) promote the massive flooding of the
Mississippi River.
July 16
The last
Quincy, Illinois, bridge is closed, leaving no bridge between
Alton,
Illinois
and Burlington, Iowa. The Mississippi River is flooded to seven miles inland.
July
24
The
Mississippi River at Quincy crests at a record 32 feet.
August
2
The
Mississippi River crests at 49.7 feet in St. Louis, Missouri. Eleven times the
volume of Niagara Falls is flowing under Eads Bridge; enough to fill Busch
stadium every 65 seconds.
August
24
The
Mississippi River locks reopen to commercial river traffic.
August
30
The Des
Moines River floods again, after another 10 inches of rain falls. The
Mississippi River stays open.
Sandbags
and Stuff
(Statistics
collected from various regional newspaper sources.)
-
Estimated that two truckloads of sand (a little less than fifty tons) will
fill 4000 sandbags.
- More
than 26.5 million sandbags were used in towns along the
Mississippi River
during the Flood of 1993
-
Approximately 927 million pounds of sand was used to fill those sandbags
-
Homeowners had to fill their own sandbags
- In
all, 150 primary and secondary levees failed during the summer.
- 12
billion dollars in damages
- 48
deaths
- nine
states involved
- 1
inch of water on an acre of land equals 27,143 gallons.
Rain, too much rain, was the root of the problems. By July 15th,
every area had a least twice its normal rainfall, some had six times as
much. A high pressure system in the Southeast forced Gulf air to move north,
hitting cool Northwest air. It stalled right there, continuing to produce
massive rainfalls. It was the wettest June and July since 1895.
There were twelve major storms with rainfalls of 6 to 12 inches, 16,000 square
miles of farmland were under water. Seventeen million acres were inundated
during the flood.
Flood Projections for 1996: April
2, 1996
The
National Weather Service issued a revised report on the potential for spring
flooding on the Mississippi River. The report is considered to be a “worst
case scenario” and projects that if normal precipitation falls and average
temperatures prevail in the coming weeks, the Mississippi River could crest in
La Crosse, Wisconsin at 15.5 feet…. 3.5 feet above the Mississippi River’s
flood stage. If little precipitation falls in coming weeks, the crest could be
lower, at 13 feet. Heavy snow that fell over most of Minnesota and Wisconsin
last week motivated the revised report. In addition, cold temperatures have
delayed the snow melt, increasing the chances for a rapid melt in the north
during April.
INSIGHT FEATURE:
Remembering Valmeyer, Illinois and the 1993
Mississippi River Flood.
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