THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1993

Today we wanted to talk about the great flood of the Mississippi River in 1993

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VALENTINA - THE LOCATION AND THE DRAINAGE BASIN OF THE RIVER 

The Mississippi River is one of the most famous rivers in the world and it is the second-longest river in the United States. The
Mississippi River is about 3,770 kilometres long.

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It flows from Lake Itasca in north-western Minnesota

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to the Gulf of Mexico, in fact the mouth of the Mississippi is located in the state of Louisiana, south of the city of New Orleans.

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It passes through ten different states which are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas,
Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

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“Mississippi” is an Indian word meaning “great river” or “gathering of waters”, which is actually an appropriate name because
the river basin, so the watershed, extends from the Allegheny Mountains in the eastern United States

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to the Rocky Mountains.

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It is the world's third-largest drainage basin, since it has 250 tributaries and branches. The Mississippi River drains an area of
about 3.2 million square kilometres including the entire area or part of it of 32 states and two Canadian provinces, covering
about 40% of the continental United States. 

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Some important tributaries of the Mississippi are:

 the Minnesota River; 

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and then we can find
 the St. Croix River; 
 the Missouri River; 
 the Ohio River; 
 the Arkansas River.
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NICOLE - WHAT ADVANTAGES DID THE RIVER BRING TO PEOPLE IN THAT LOCATION?
For centuries, it has been a very important route for trade and travel. Native Americans lived along its banks and used the river
for sustenance and transportation.

Early European explorers used the Mississippi to explore the interior and the northern reaches of what was to become the
United States. White settlers from Europe and the United States (and often their slaves) arrived on steamboats dispossessing the
Native Americans of their lands and converting the landscape into farms and cities. 

Today, the Mississippi River powers a significant segment of the economy. Communities up and down the river use the
Mississippi to obtain freshwater and to discharge their industrial and municipal waste.

Agriculture is the dominant land use in the Mississippi basin: the agricultural products and the huge agribusiness industry that
has developed in the basin produce 92% of the nation's agricultural exports, 78% of the world's exports in feed grains and
soybeans, and most of the livestock and hogs produced nationally. 

In fact, the Mississippi River is one of the world's most important commercial waterway and it is the cheapest way to travel
between the Southeast United States. Barges move approximately 175 million tons of freight each year on the Mississippi, such
as petroleum, iron and steel, grain, rubber, paper…

The Mississippi provides hydroelectric power and water to several states and many people around the Unites States. The
Mississippi River is also important since it is used as a drainage system. Thousands of rivers and streams drain extra water into
the Mississippi, which helps prevent flooding and saves lives. 

The Mississippi River also contains over 240 different fish species. The majority of the United States’ farm-raised catfish come
from the Mississippi’s catfish farms. It is also a major recreational resource for boaters, canoeists, hunters, anglers, and
birdwatchers and offers many outdoor opportunities.

DESCRIBE WHY THE FLOODING EVENT TOOK PLACE AND WHAT DAMAGE IT CAUSED

CHIARA - Billed as the 'Great flood of 1993', this flood was the worst natural disaster in the United States since the Mississippi
flooded in 1927. 

CHIARA - PHYSICAL CAUSES OF THE FLOOD

Heavy snowfall over the winter of 1992/1993 were followed in spring and in the early summer by heavy rainfall, dumped
between 400-750% above the monthly average precipitation. These exceptional precipitations raised the water level in the river
so much that the river burst its banks flooding an estimated 30,000 square miles. 

The Mississippi basin is prone to flooding on an annual basis because of the combination of spring rains and snowmelt, but due
to higher than usual amounts of both, the flooding was exaggerated.

CHIARA - HUMAN CAUSES OF THE FLOOD

The principal human causes were the development of many urban areas along the river which determined the reduction of
infiltration and the increased the risk of damage done to buildings. Channelisation of the river exaggerated problems further
downstream. Many of the levees along the river were poorly built, and were breached easily, especially away from major
settlements. One man, James Scott, was imprisoned for life for causing a catastrophe after he removed sandbags from a levee
which broke later that day, flooding 57 square kilometres of farmland.

GRACJAN - DAMAGE 

50 people lost their lives, some 72,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and 62,000 families were evacuated. More than 75
small towns near the rivers were completely inundated for weeks. Two whole towns (Valmeyer and Rhineland) were completely
destroyed and relocated to higher ground. Drinking water became scarce due to contamination and failure of septic systems,
while wastewater treatment plants were shut down. Chemical spills were transported over large areas and reached alluvial
aquifers. Stagnant floodwater increased the risk of water-borne diseases. Both the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers were
closed to water traffic for up to two months, causing severe business interruption losses. There were 2.6 billion dollars in crop
losses. 15 million acres of farmland flooded overall. 700 privately built agricultural levees were destroyed. Over 1000 levees
failed and had to be rebuilt and strengthened. Ten airports suffered severe flooding and virtually all railroads in the Midwest
were shut down. Bridges along the Mississippi between Davenport, Iowa, and St. Louis were closed. Total direct damage was
estimated to be more than USD (United States Dollars) 15 billion. 

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WHAT DID THEY LEARN? AND WHAT DID THEY DO?

NICOLE - In response to the flood of 1993, various strategies were put in place to reduce the severity of the effects of any future
flood of similar size. 

 NICOLE - First of all, afforestation has been done in many areas in an attempt to reduce surface run-off by increasing
infiltration, most prominently in the Tennessee Valley. 
 NICOLE - Many levees were replaced with concrete buttresses to reduce erosion and strengthen them.
 VALENTINA - The Federal Emergency Management authority published flood risk assessments and it encouraged the
relocation of those specific settlements that were at risk. 
 VALENTINA – The National Weather Service has forced the improvement of its river forecasting systems, updating the
computer software and collecting more river data in order to bring more accurate forecasting models in the future.
 VALENTINA - Diversionary spillways were built to retain excess water during flooding, which was then released at a
later stage when flood waters retreated.
 VALENTINA – And lastly, 6 new reservoirs on the Missouri river and other 19 reservoirs on the Tennessee River have
been built to hold excess flood water.