Natural disasters are unique, and when they occur, they cause a lot of havoc. The world has experienced some unique natural disasters that have caused a lot of deaths in addition to resulting in the distraction of properties that worth billions of money. An example of a natural disaster that went down to history as one of the greatest is the Great Flood of the year 1993. It was a record flood that started in May and took control until September of 1993 ( Caruso et al., 2015). The flooding occurred mostly across North and South Dakota, sweeping through to Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois. People reported an occurrence of approximate fifty flood deaths with an estimate of $15 billion properties destroyed as a result of the flood. Hundreds of levees failed along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It was one of the most significant floods to hit the United. In this discussion, the focus is to unfold the flood events and its causes, as well as some of the facts that came alongside this greatest natural disaster in the United States.
The Flood Background
It all begun in June until August when the total precipitation across Southern Minnesota, Dakota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa surpassed the 12 inches. Along regions such as central and Northern Kansas, most of the southern part of Minnesota, most parts of Iowa, and southern Nebraska, the precipitation his around 24 inches. These were unique records in these areas, and it was dangerous for the inhabitants as most of them were left homeless. According to Koslov (2016) , these amounts were approximately 200-350 percent of normal from the northern plains southeastward into the central United States. From April 1 through August 31, precipitation amounts approached 48 inches in east-central Iowa, easily surpassing the area's normal annual precipitation of 30-36 inches.
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The torrential downpour in such areas was behind the record flooding. In the nine states areas, there was a consistent rainfall that hit such areas for an approximate of twenty days or more mostly in July, resulting in a high flood in such areas. It was unique because before such downpours, and there was a record downpour of eight to nine days within such areas meaning, it was one of the greatest downpours of its kind around such regions. Also, parts of Mississippi were affected by the rain mostly both in late June and July. It was the impact of the continuous rainfall in these areas, which was the reason behind the flood. The great flood of the year 1993 had shown a warning signal mostly on the 1st of July with a lot of saturated soil and streams filled mostly at the Upper Midwest of the Mississippi River. The runoffs coming from the saturated spoil due to the heavy rains that people witnessed between June, July, and August did not have any other options of flow other than the streams and the river channels ( Caruso et al., 2015). The record rainfall of 75-to 300 frequencies thus produced a historic flood that later had its place in history as one of the greatest to ever hit the United States.Mostly, the upper Mississippi and lower Missouri Rivers were the targets of this grueling flood.
The Flood Events and Facts
Koslov (2016) argues that the main cause of the flood was the heavy rainfall that hit the ground between June and July, mostly the upper Midwest. People pinpoint the heavy rainfall as the cause of the flooding in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. In mid to late June, there was a heavy rainfall mostly in the upper Midwest that resulted in about an 8-inch precipitation. It was such intensity of rain ( Caruso et al., 2015). That resulted in flooding on the river Minnesota and Wisconsin. The flooding at river Wisconsin and Minnesota pushed the Mississippi River to crest at St. Louis in July. The crest at St. Louis was about 43 feet, which were equal to the previous record.
In early to mid-July, a series of record rainfall hit many places, especially Iowa. The regions recorded storms totaling eight inches. Across different regions such as Iowa, Skunk, and Des Moines rivers, there was record flooding that swept many properties, causing a lot of havoc and deaths. The massive flow of water from these rivers later combined with the Mississippi River that was nearing the record flow to push the stage at the St. Louis to a new record of 47 feet on the 20th of July. A torrential downpour later attacked the North Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri in mid to late July. Due to such heavy rainfall, the Missouri River crested at Kansas City on27th July, a crest that broke the previous record by 2.7 feet because it was 48.7 feet ( Savard, 2016). It was due to the crest at Kansas that pushed the Missouri River further down, which also resulted in a new record-setting at Boonville, Hermann, Jefferson City, St. Charles, and other numerous regions that were within such locations. It was the same record flows from such areas that forced the Mississippi river to set a record of 49.47 feet when it crested at St. Louise on the first of August. Such are records that made this natural disaster one of the greatest not only in America but also in the world.
The Impacts of the flooding
The impact of the flooding was disastrous not only to the people but also to the government. First, the flood was unusual because it affected a wide area in the United States. The flood spread and covered an approximate of 400,000 square miles. From the records, it covered a total of nine states in the country. The flood also topped and failed over 1,000 levels. Furthermore, there was a total of over fifty flood deaths with a tally of over 20000 people left homeless after the flood. The flood also lasted for a very long period in areas where it covered. For instance, there were some areas where the flood stayed for more than 200 days after the rainfall had reduced ( Savard, 2016). Over 50,000 homes were destroyed by the grueling flooding of 1993, with over 75 towns covered by the floodwater. The damages to the country rose to $15 billion due to the flood, which was one of the biggest and significant flood people witnessed in the United States.
Other critical damages need to be mentioned and also acted as crucial lessons to the disaster management in such states and the entire United States. First, The Barge traffic on both mighty rivers halted for almost two months. As a result, the transport was severely affected. Transportation was the sector that was profoundly affected by the flood than any other area. Education and healthcare sectors were other sectors that were also left counting heavy losses after the flood. After the flood, bridges at the Mississippi were rendered impassable from Davenport, Missouri, and Iowa. As a result, it affected transportation and accessibility of many areas that were within the regions. Also, the flood resulted in a flood that covered ten commercial airports resulting in disruption on air transportation. Furthermore, there were also flood reported on railroads traffics in the Midwest as transportation stopped in such roads. According to Wu et al. (2016) , the country also lots the 1993 to 1994 harvest, and this harmed the families that relied on such harvest for living. Finally, the floods destroyed the sewerage plants. Generally, the disaster had a massive negative impact on the life of those who were affected.
Prediction
Based on the effects of the flood and how it caught many people unaware, it would be tempting to understand whether there were any predictions concerning the heavy rains and the warning signs of the flood. The warning signs were there with the soil moisture increasing around the Mississippi River regions being an excellent example of a sign that could be visible before the disaster struck. Other than the warning signs, there was also a strong warning from NOAA hydrologists. According to these individuals, the warning signs for such a flood were the wet fall in 1992 and the normal or above-normal snowpack in the central United States. From these groups of professionals, such were warning that the beginning of 1993 could see a huge flood in the country when the rainfall began ( Savard, 2016). Whether people acted upon or considered the warning was part of the preparation remains an area of disaster research in this field. However, it is evident from the flood’s impact that people did not focus on the warning and how to manage the disaster.
References
Caruso, G. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of shocks in early life: Evidence from the Tanzania great flood of 1993. Available at SSRN 2560876 .
Koslov, L. (2016). The case for retreat. Public Culture , 28 (2 (79)), 359-387.
Savard, K. J. (2016). Disaster Capitalism: Impact on the Great Flood of 1993.
Wu, Q., Zhao, Z., Liu, L., Granger, D. E., Wang, H., Cohen, D. J., ... & Zhang, J. (2016). Outburst flood in 1920 BCE supports the historicity of China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty. Science , 353 (6299), 579-582.
