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The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in United States history.
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). 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. The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest named river in North America, with a length of 2320 miles (3733 km) from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Dike (construction). ...
The flood affected Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Arkansas was hardest hit, with 14% of its territory covered by floodwaters. By May of 1927 the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee reached a width of 100 km (60 mi). Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area Ranked 29th - Total 53,179 sq mi (137,002 km²) - Width 239 miles (385 km) - Length 261 miles (420 km) - % water 2. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area Ranked 25th - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 390 miles (629 km) - % water 4. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area Ranked 37th - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ...
Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans [1] Area Ranked 31st - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 16 - Latitude 29°N to 33°N - Longitude 89°W...
This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area Ranked 36th - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²) - Width 120 miles (195 km) - Length 440 miles (710 km) - % water 2. ...
For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ...
km redirects here. ...
A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ...
Attempts at relief
A river levee is blown up at Caernarvon in 1927 As the flood approached New Orleans, Louisiana, 30 tons of dynamite were set off on the levee at Caernarvon, Louisiana and sent 7,000 m³/s (250,000 ft³/s) of water pouring through. This prevented New Orleans from experiencing serious damage, but flooded much of St. Bernard Parish and all of Plaquemines Parish's east bank. 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 demolitions, made it impossible for flood waters to seriously threaten the city. There is some belief that the purpose of the levee explosion was to save the wealthier parts of the city by directing the flow of water to the more blighted communities. Image File history File links 1927_flood_Caernarvon_levee_dynamite_St. ...
Image File history File links 1927_flood_Caernarvon_levee_dynamite_St. ...
Nickname: Location in the State of Louisiana and the United States Coordinates: Country United States State Louisiana Parish Orleans Founded 1718 Government - Mayor Ray Nagin (D) Area - City 350. ...
Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth (Kieselguhr) as an adsorbent. ...
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 evacuees 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 blacks were detained and forced to labor at gunpoint during flood relief efforts. Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ...
Greenville is a city located in Washington County, Mississippi. ...
Political effects Several reports on the terrible 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 Southern blacks moved to the big cities of the North, particularly Chicago. The Great Migration was the movement of over 1 million[1] African Americans out of the rural Southern United States from 1914 to 1950. ...
Nickname: Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area - City 234. ...
The flood propelled Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, who was 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), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator. ...
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. ...
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 Penitentiary during the flood. Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, material culture, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group. ...
Charlie Patton (May 1, 1891 - April 28, 1934) is best known as an American Delta blues musician. ...
This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...
Delta blues are named for the Mississippi Delta. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Louisiana 1927 is a song written and originally recorded by Randy Newman. ...
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 were an English rock band who formed in 1968. ...
William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American novelist and poet whose works feature his native state of Mississippi. ...
Wild Palms is a six hour mini-series, which first aired in 1993 on the ABC Network in the United States. ...
Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Parchman, Mississippi, and was built in 1901. ...
See also The Great Flood of 1993 was a major flood that occurred in the American Midwest, along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and their tributaries, from April to October of 1993. ...
The timeline of environmental events is a historical account of events that have shaped humanitys perspective on the environment. ...
References
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