By: Jessie Park

Taite Rideout

Jeff Griffin

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1993

CAUSES OF THE FLOOD

• Fall of 1992 was when the chain of events began. Soil moisture and reservoir levels in the central United States were already high.

• In the winter, persistent rain and snow fall in the same areas continued to contribute to the saturated soil.

• When it came around to spring, the ground could not absorb any more water so the spring showers could only run off into streams and rivers.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

• “Over 1,000 flood warnings and statements, five times the normal, were issued to notify the public and need-to-know officials of river levels. In places like St. Louis Missouri, river levels were nearly 20 feet above flood stage and had never been this high in its 150 year history. The 52 foot St. Louis Flood wall, built to handle the volume of the 1844 flood, was able to keep the 1993 flood out with just over two feet to spare.”

ST. LOUIS

PRECIPITATION AND RIVER LEVELS• Parts of central Iowa received as much as 48 inches of rain between April 1 and

August 31, 1993.

• Many areas across the central-northern plains had precipitation 400-750% above normal.

• At St. Louis, the Mississippi river crested at 49.6 feet on August 1 - over 19 feet above flood stage, and more than six feet above the old record set in 1973.

• The Mississippi remained over flood stage at St. Louis for over two months.

• Many of the states that were affected, experienced rain on 20 days or more in July , compared to an average 8 to 9 days.

PICTURES FROM SATELLITE

STATES AFFECTED FROM THE FLOOD• ILLinois

• Iowa

• Kansas

• Minnesota

• Missouri

• Nebraska

• North Dakota

• South Dakota

• And Wisconsin

STATES AFFECTED FROM THE FLOOD• ILLINOIS recorded flooding for 195 days for areas closest to the the Mississippi River to

152 days in Quincy.

• Different parts of Missouri were flooded from a range of 187 days to 77 days.

THE AFFECTS OF THE FLOOD

• Record flooding occurred on the Des Moines River, farther North, a tributary of the Mississippi. At one point the flooding disabled a major water plant, which left the city, Des Moines, of nearly 200,000 people without safe drinking water

• For months, transportation and industry along the Mississippi was disrupted.

• Over 1,000 of the 1,300 levees designed to hold back flood waters failed, though major cities along the rivers, like St. Louis, were protected from flooding by massive flood walls.

AFFECTS OF THE FLOOD CONTINUED..

• “Over 70,000 people were displaced by the floods. Nearly 50,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and 52 people died. Over 12,000 square miles of productive farmland were rendered useless. Damage was estimated between $15-20 billion.”

PICTURES

AREA ON THE MAP

THE FLOOD CAME CLOSE TO MISSOURI STATE CAPITOL

WATCH IT LIVE• http://youtu.be/N5avsx-8xJo

• http://youtu.be/B017Fuc7x6U

SOURCES• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/HighWater/

• http://www.weather.com/encyclopedia/flood/miss93.html

• http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=1993_flood