Over several summers, I swam 2,367.4 miles from the source of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico as a performance and environmental statement. It included about 100 miles above flood stage, during the “Great Flood of 1993”. The purpose of the project was to draw attention to the “Father of Waters”. As the flood waters engulfed me, I realized I better get out of there - besides, the river was drawing plenty of attention on its own. It was angry.
The flood waters devastated whole areas of nine states and covered 30,000 square miles. I witnessed the river’s uncontrollable powers first hand. It was closed to commercial traffic as tow boats could no longer fit under bridges. Then, it closed to recreational traffic as it became ever more dangerous. And finally, even the air space above the waters was closed to clear the way for rescue operations. It killed 30 people, destroyed entire towns along with millions of acres of crops and came in at about $15 billion in property damage.
The aftermath made people rethink the river. James Lee Witt, Former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), President Clinton and Governor Carnahan of Missouri met for initial strategy. The inevitability of future floods made rebuilding in the 100-year flood plain just plain stupid. Governors in all nine states affected by the flood agreed on a plan that earmarked money from FEMA, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and community block development grants to move people and property out of the flood plain.
Properties were purchased and given to cities and counties with deed restrictions that kept them open as green spaces with recreational uses, trails and native grasses. In 1995, it flooded again, but thanks to preparedness - No money was spent on recovery. The cost benefit analysis confirmed every dollar spent to mitigate future disasters saved five dollars in losses or three billion dollars in prevention saved lives and a fifteen billion dollar cure.
See also: InClimate 88, 29 (Fed Disaster Declaration) Mar. 30 (Now or Later) Jan. 29