The 'Great Flood of 1993' was the Midwest's worst natural disaster

More lowland flooding occurred this week east of the Mississippi River. Many of our Harris-Mann farmer clients still are unable to plant or replant their washed-out crops in at least seven states in the Midwest.

But, to answer several flood-related emails that I've received lately, the flooding in 2013 has been much less severe than during the so-called GREAT FLOOD OF 1993 in the Midwest exactly 20 years ago.

The 500-year flood of 1993 was the worst natural disaster to ever hit the Midwest in modern times with total losses exceeding $18 billion. Nearly five dozen people lost their lives. More than 75 towns were flooded. At least 70,000 people were left homeless and some 60,000 square miles of mainly corn and soybean farmland was soaked beyond usage. Several of our farmers near the Mississippi River and its many flooded tributaries were literally 'put out of business' by the record high waters.

Residents of Valmeyer, Ill., some 25 miles southeast of St. Louis, saw 90 percent of their homes in ruin after the 1993 flood. Most people were forced to use boats in order to get around. The city later voted to move the entire town to higher ground some 400 feet above the flood stages of the Mighty Mississippi.

A graveyard in Hardin, Mo., was thoroughly inundated by the 1993 flood. At least 700 coffins rose to the surface, some floating as far as 14 miles downstream.

In Des Moines, Iowa, where the Raccoon River flows into the Des Moines River, which eventually merges with the Mississippi River, the city saw an all-time high river crest of 14 feet above flood stage on July 11, 1993. At least 250,000 residents went nearly two full weeks without potable water. Nearly a quarter of the residents of Des Moines were left without power. Approximately 2,400 homes were severely damaged by the record flooding. Only 800 homes had national flood insurance.

The entire state of Iowa, for the first time ever, was declared a disaster area. Millions of acres of prime farmland were still under water in early August in 1993.

Many bridges were washed out during the 1993 flooding. From late June through early August, more than 5,000 boats loaded with goods became stuck on the Mississippi River. In some places, the Mississippi, normally less than a mile wide, grew to be as wide as seven miles across, more like a 'lake' than a river. In total, more than half of the river's levees were broken from St. Paul, Minn., to New Orleans, La., mainly in late June and early July.

More than 75 percent of the federally-declared natural disasters each year in the U.S. are flood-related. On the average, floods and flash floods damage at least $3.5 billion worth of property and take more than 200 lives nationally each year. I should also mention that nearly half of these flood fatalities are in vehicles caught in flash floods.

Finally, to answer another subscriber's question, the deadliest flood in U.S. history occurred at Johnstown, Pa., on May 31, 1889. Heavy spring rains and unusually heavy snowmelt burst the South Fork Dam, sending a 35-foot wall of water - about 20 million tons - gushing into Johnstown, killing at least 2,200 people.

Similar bursting dams in South Dakota in 1972 and Colorado in 1976 killed a combined 393 people. These flash floods were caused by record cloudbursts exceeding a foot of rain in a very short time span.

Be careful in areas prone to flash flooding. They can be very DEADLY!

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

What a difference a year makes, weatherwise and otherwise.

Last year, we saw the wettest and coolest spring on record across North Idaho and the rest of the so-called 'Inland Empire.' This spring has been unusually dry and quite warm with a record number of hours of beautiful sunshine.

The first half of June, like the previous month of May, was bone dry. Fortunately, we didn't see the disastrous wildfires that blackened many other drought-parched western states.

We did see some weak thunderstorm activity last Thursday evening and on Friday across the region, but precipitation amounts were very light.

Longer-term, following some additional showers and thunderstorms this week near the official first day of summer on Friday, June 21, we should see a nice warm and dry late June through early September period across the Inland Northwest.

Randy Mann and I are still expecting approximately 25 hot 'Sholeh Days' at or above 90 degrees in the Coeur d'Alene area this summer of 2013. There should likewise be GREAT WEATHER under high pressure for the annual North Idaho Fair and Rodeo in late August, 'La Nina' or no 'La Nina.'

Also, the weather for this June 23 'IRONMAN' competition should be fairly nice, partly cloudy skies with a morning low near 50 degrees and an afternoon high near 80 degrees.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com