Source: NYT
5-10-11
David Welky, an associate professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas, is the author of the forthcoming book “The Thousand-Year Flood: The Ohio-Mississippi Disaster of 1937.”VIOLENT thunderstorms have sent the greatest floods since 1937cascading down the Ohio and lower Mississippi River Valleys. Residents from Illinois to Arkansas have fled their homes as thousands of square miles of farmland have gone underwater.But even if the river levels are nearly as high as anything seen in the 20th century, the extent of the damage probably won’t come close to the losses of life and property seen in the historic flood of January 1937. Indeed, while individual stories of calamity abound, taken as a whole the event is a watershed in American history — proof that after nearly 75 years, the federal government has finally gained the upper hand on a river system once thought uncontrollable.In the Great Flood of 1937 torrential rains pushed rivers up to 15 feet above flood stage and forced a million people from their homes. Entire towns disappeared. Flooding caused around $1 billion in damages. Several hundred people died, mostly from pneumonia or influenza....
