The Great Flood of 1993
Background
The Mississippi River begins at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flows south to the Gulf of Mexico, which is over 2200 miles long. The Great Flood of 1993 came as a surprise to many United States citizens living in the Upper and Middle Mississippi Basins. This flood was known to be the worst flood in the history of the United States. It was the worst flood based on how costly the damages were and it was also the most devastating flood as well. According to Ronald Brown, “in terms of precipitation amounts, record river stages, areal extent flooding, persons displaced, crop and property damage, and flood duration, this event surpassed all floods in the United States during modern times” (Brown, 1-1). Thus, this flood was one of the worst recorded floods because of the high amounts of precipitation.
The Great Flood of 1993 all started with a rainy fall in 1992 and lasted through March of 1993, which this created an above normal amount of rainfall for the Upper Mississippi Basin alone. According to the Weather Channel, during the Great Flood of 1993 “some locations had received over 30 inches of rain, nearly 200% of normal” (Weather Channel, 1). Other areas had over four feet of rain during this period of time. That rainy autumn caused the soil moisture in the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Basins to be above normal, which meant that the spring rainfall and snowmelt went straight into the nearby streams and rivers.
These heavy rains also caused flash flooding to occur by the streams and rivers overflowing with water. The moderate to heavy rains that occurred in June happened for eight straight days throughout the Missouri, Red, and Upper Mississippi Basins (Changnon, 10). By mid June, “flooding developed along the major tributaries of the Mississippi River in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin” (Changnon, 10).
Cause of the Great Flood of 1993
The National Weather Service meteorologists described these heavy rains and they believe that El Nino was the primary cause of the Great Flood of 1993 (Changnon, 1). 