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The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in United States history until the Hurricane Katrina flood of 2005. 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Hurricane Katrina was a tropical cyclone that struck southern and central U.S. on late August, 2005. ...
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Events
The flood began when heavy rains pounded the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926. By September the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity. On New Year's day of 1927 the Cumberland River at Nashville topped levees at 56.2 feet (17 m). Length 1,106 km Elevation of the source 480 m Average discharge 3,217 m³/s Area watershed 46,830 km² Origin Oven Fork, Kentucky Mouth Ohio River Basin countries United States The Cumberland River is an important waterway in the southern United States. ...
The Mississippi River broke out of its levee system in 145 places and flooded 27,000 square miles or about 16,570,627 acres (70,000 km²). The area was inundated up to a depth of 30 feet (10 m). The flood caused over $400 million in damages and killed 246 people in seven states. This page is about the river in the United States; there is also a Canadian Mississippi River (Ontario). ...
A levee, levée (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ...
Affected areas The flood affected Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Arkansas was hardest hit, with 13% of its territory covered by floodwaters. By May of 1927 the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee reached a width of 60 miles(100 km). State nickname: The Natural State Other U.S. States Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Governor Mike Huckabee (R) Senators Blanche Lincoln (D) Mark Pryor (D) Official language(s) English Area 137,732 km² (29th) - Land 134,856 km² - Water 2,876 km² (2. ...
State nickname: Land of Lincoln, The Prairie State Official languages English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) Senators Richard Durbin (D) Barack Obama (D) Area - Total - % water Ranked 25th 149,998 km² 4. ...
State nickname: Bluegrass State Official languages English Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) Senators Mitch McConnell (R) Jim Bunning (R) Area - Total - % water Ranked 37th 104,749 km² 1. ...
State nickname: Pelican State Official languages English and French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans at last official government census, but probably Baton Rouge since Hurricane Katrina Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) Senators Mary Landrieu (D) David Vitter (R) Area - Total - % water Ranked 31st 134,382 km² 16 Population - Total...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
State nickname: Volunteer State Official languages English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Governor Phil Bredesen (D) Senators Bill Frist (R) Lamar Alexander (R) Area - Total - % water Ranked 36th 109,247 km² 2. ...
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, of which it is the county seat. ...
Attempts at relief As the flood approached New Orleans, Louisiana 30 tons of dynamite were set off on the levee at Caernarvon, Louisiana and sent 250,000 ft³/s (7,000 m³/s) of water pouring through. This prevented New Orleans from experiencing serious damage but destroyed much of the marsh below the city and flooded all of St. Bernard Parish. As it turned out, the destruction of the Caernarvon levee was unnecessary; several major levee breaks well upstream of New Orleans, including one the day after the dynamiting, made it impossible for flood waters seriously to threaten the city. New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and historically the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ...
Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin using diatomaceous earth (Kieselguhr) as an absorbent. ...
Abatement By August 1927 the flood subsided. During the disaster 700,000 people were displaced, including 330,000 African-Americans who were moved to 154 relief camps. Over 13,000 refugees near Greenville, Mississippi were gathered from area farms and evacuated to the crest of an unbroken levee, and stranded there for days without food or clean water, while boats arrived to evacuate white women and children. Many African-Americans were detained and forced to labor at gunpoint during flood relief efforts. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...
Greenville is a city located in Washington County, Mississippi. ...
Political effects Several reports on the poor situation in the refugee camps, including one by the Colored Advisory Commission by Robert Russa Moton, were kept out of the media at the request of Herbert Hoover, with the promise of further reforms for blacks after the presidential election. When he failed to keep the promise, Moton and other influential African-Americans helped to shift the allegiance of black Americans from the Republican party to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democrats. Ketil Trout 23:14, 8 September 2005 (UTC) Categories: Possible copyright violations ...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ...
The aftermath of the flood was one factor in the Great Migration of African-Americans to northern cities. Previously, the move from the rural South to the Northern cities had virtually stopped. As a result of displacement lasting up to six months, millions of Southerm blacks moved to the big cities of the North, particularly Chicago. The Migration - In every town Negroes were leaving by the hundreds to go North and enter into Northern industry Jacob Lawrence, (1940–41) The Great Migration is a term used to describe the mass migration of African Americans from the southern United States to the industrial centers of the Northeast...
Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ...
The flood propelled Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, in charge of flood relief operations, into the national spotlight and set the stage for his election to the Presidency. It also helped Huey Long be elected Louisiana Governor in 1928. Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933). ...
Huey Pierce Long (August 30, 1893–September 10, 1935) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. ...
1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The flood had the unlikely effect of contributing to both the election of Herbert Hoover as President, and his defeat four years later. He was much lauded for his masterful handling of the refugee camps, but later concerns over the treatment of blacks in those camps caused him to make promises to the African-American community which he later broke, losing the black vote in his re-election campaign.
The flood resulted in a great cultural output as well, inspiring a great deal of folklore and folk music. Charlie Patton, Bessie Smith and many other Delta blues musicians wrote numerous songs about the flood; Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" was also based on the events of the flood. Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie's "When the Levee Breaks" was reworked by Led Zeppelin, and became one of that group's most famous songs. William Faulkner's short story "Old Man" (in the book, Wild Palms) was about a prison break from Parchman Penetentiary during the flood. Folklore is the body of verbal expressive culture, including tales, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the oral tradition of that culture, subculture, or group. ...
Charley Patton Charlie Patton (May 1, 1891–April 28, 1934), or Charley Patton (Charlie, according to his full-length biography, but Web sites and album covers show no consensus on the spelling) was an American Delta blues musician, and one of the first mainstream stars of that genre. ...
Bessie Smith photographed by Carl Van Vechten Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States is largely regarded as the most popular and successful blues singer of 1920s and 1930s, and an enormous influence on the singers who followed her. ...
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. ...
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American songwriter, arranger, singer and pianist who is notable for his mordant, immaculately written pop songs and for his many film scores. ...
Joe McCoy (born May 11, 1905 – died January 28, 1950) was an African American blues musician. ...
Memphis Minnie McCoy (born June 3, 1897 - died August 6, 1973) was an American Blues musician. ...
When the Levee Breaks is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. ...
Led Zeppelin was a British rock band that became one of the most popular and influential musical ensembles ever. ...
See also The Great Flood of 1993 was a huge, costly, and devastating flood that occurred in the American Midwest from April to October of 1993. ...
References - Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John M. Barry, ISBN 0684840022
- PBS American Experience: Fatal Flood
External Links - Mississippi River Flood of 1927 - short silent film produced by the US Army Signal Corps, shows the flood aftermath and relief efforts for the refugees. Hosted by the Internet Archive
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