Flooding IV, The Mississippi opus 865
| 13 June 2026 1348 Hours | | History, Behavior, Climate, Current Events, Custom, Environment, Geology, Population |
Human, European, settlements began two centuries ago
Along the banks of the Mississippi River, which often flooded.
It was a continual battle using massive levee networks.
This method did not work well and finally entire towns
Were systematically moved to higher ground.
As a young person, I always wondered why nothing was ever done,
Except to continually rebuild these towns. It made no sense to me.
Finally after the Great Flood of 1993, I learned that whole towns were moved.
The strategy was for FEMA to buy these properties and
Relocate the land owners; it was known as 'managed retreat.'
The new towns were on higher bluffs, with green areas created below.
The 19th century was known as the 'Levees--Only Illusion.'
In the 1700s, the early French and American settlers
Began building levees, which later became a 'levees-only' policy.
The Great Flood of 1844 wiped out St. Louis settlements
Of both the Europeans as well as those of the native tribes.
Congress passed the Swamp Act of 1849, building even higher levees!
Kaskaskia was the original capitol of the Missouri territory and the state.
By 1881, after a series of severe floods, Kaskaskia was gone.
The river had even cut a new channel, destroying most of the town.
The most destructive flood in US history was the Great Flood of 1927.
This fiasco changed the county's approach to flood management.
Continuous rainfall caused levees to burst in 145 places.
In some areas, the river widened to 80 miles,
Submerging 27,000 square miles. More than 700,000 people were displaced.
The Flood Control Act of 1928 financed the world's longest levee system,
With spillways to channel water away from cities.
Even still the effect was to box in the river, not move the towns.
After months of rain in 1993, officials realized that levees were not the solution,
And that was the beginning of wholesale town relocations.
Towns such as Valmeyer and Grafton, Illinois, and Rineland, Missouri,
Were moved to the overlooking bluffs, including whole houses.
Because of the present-day cost of moving whole towns,
People are slowly leaving lowlying areas or elevating houses on stilts.
Climate Change has made the river's flooding more frequent, less predictable.
Some towns like West Alton, Missouri, have lost population
From 4,000 down to as few as 360 during the floods of 1973, 1993, and 2019.
The river has continually been used for trade and transportation,
But even now, a cost has always been involved.