When the levee breaks
The Mississippi River is often considered the greatest river in the United States. The Mighty Mississippi has the third largest watershed in the world, receiving rain and snow that falls on 32 of our states. Its network of tributaries shuttles water from these states to the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of miles long, this massive body of water has always been both the soul and bane of the people who live near it. The river provides water power to drive the industries of the Midwest, including manufacturing, farming and transportation.
The river is so big and its catch so great that a drop of rain falling in our mountains has the opportunity to journey down a small rivulet into the Casselmam River and then continue to the Gulf of Mexico via the Youghiogheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. The last 450 miles of the journey are actually below sea level and this presents a large problem and contributes to much flooding in that area.
Over the years, miles and miles of levees have been constructed to hold back the water and direct its flow. The city of New Orleans lies below sea level and only through a vast network of levees has it survived. On several occasions, the city has been completely swamped when the levees gave way. Many people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced. We all remember the pictures after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. Perhaps even worse was the flooding that occurred on the Mississippi in 1927. The rains actually began in the fall of 1926. In early January of 1927, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati flooded. February saw the levees on the Arkansas break and spring rains and snowmelt added to the rising waters on their journey southward.
The end finally came when a Good Friday storm brought 15 inches of rain to New Orleans in 18 hours. John Barry in his book 鈥淩ising Tide鈥� describes how thousands of plantation workers were 鈥渢opping鈥� the levees, piling sandbags to add height. The worst came at Mounds Landing near Greenville, Mississippi, where workers were forced at gunpoint to continue to work. When the levee failed many were swept away in the rushing waters. Their bodies never to be found. The water poured through at a rate twice that of Niagara Falls. A million acres were submerged under 10 feet of water. Those who did escape sought safety atop the levees that hadn鈥檛 failed. Thousands crowded onto the tops of these strips of land, each no more than 8 feet wide, surrounded by water, the Mighty Mississippi to the west and their flooded homes to the east.
Unlike Katrina, which took only days to do its damage and destruction, the flood of 1927 lasted more than six months. The Mississippi is indeed, mighty and so are its floods.