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The Great Flood of 1993 |
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The Floods which occurred in 1993 along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries in the American Midwest is remembered as “The Great Flood of 1993”. This flood caused damages of $15 billion, lasting from April to October 1993 and is considered among the most costly and devastating ever to occur in the United States. This flood is considered as the worst U.S. disaster since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, as measured by duration, square miles inundated, persons displaced, crop and property damage, and number of record river levels. The flooded area totaled around 30,000 square miles as the hydrographic basin affected covered around 745 miles in length and 435 miles in width, totaling about 320,000 square miles.
Heavy precipitation, excess cloud condensation nuclei from the earth-circling ash cloud, above-normal soil moisture and reservoir levels in the Missouri and Upper Mississippi River basins along with rain, too much rain, was the root of the problems. The amount of rain received during that period can be gauged from the fact that by July 15th, every area had at least twice its normal rainfall; some had six times as much. A high pressure system in the Southeast forced Gulf air to move north, hitting cool Northwest air. It stalled right there, continuing to produce massive rainfalls. There were twelve major storms with rainfalls of 6 to 12 inches; 16,000 square miles of farmland were under water. Seventeen million acres were inundated during the flood and around 48 lives lost.
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