ST. LOUIS 鈥 The small town of Valmeyer, Ill., which had hugged the edge of the Mississippi River flood plain for more than 80 years, was essentially wiped off the map 鈥 forced to move to higher ground nearby.
Forty miles to the west, the muddy waters of the Missouri River poured into the Chesterfield Valley, inundating some 250 businesses.
Highway 40 (Interstate 64) was closed temporarily by the massive flood; an estimated 4,000 people locally were without jobs for months.
In the region, thousands of homes were flooded; some were swept away entirely.
Twenty-five years ago this week, one of the worst flooding events in U.S. history paralyzed the 最新杏吧原创 area and much of the Midwest.
In the aftermath of the devastating Flood of 1993, officials vowed to learn from the disaster and reduce future flood risk.
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Yet major floods have struck the area with unusual frequency in the years since 鈥 and some experts say the region is now even more vulnerable.
Setting the stage
The summer of 1993 saw heavy rains follow a nine- or 10-month wet period that saturated the central U.S. and set the stage for months of high and record-breaking flood levels along the region鈥檚 major waterways, including the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
鈥淪ome forecast points remained above flood stage for as long as five straight months,鈥 says an from the National Weather Service. In 最新杏吧原创, river heights exceeded 鈥渢he previous flood of record for more than three full weeks,鈥 and spent more days above flood stage than in the rest of the city鈥檚 recorded history combined.
The water鈥檚 months-long siege of sodden riverside towns and levees built to a climax by late July and early August. On July 30, floodwater overran the Chesterfield Valley when the Monarch Chesterfield Levee was breached, and on Aug. 1, the river gauge at 最新杏吧原创 hit its highest mark in recorded history with a crest of 49.58 feet 鈥 19.58 feet above flood stage, and more than 6 feet above the next highest level ever recorded.
In all, 20 million acres across nine states were inundated by that summer鈥檚 flooding, prompting evacuations of about 54,000 people, and leaving around 50,000 homes damaged or destroyed. It 50 deaths and, adjusted for inflation, the in sustained damage made it 鈥渢he most costly nontropical, inland flood event to affect the United States on record,鈥 according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Dan Hanes, a 最新杏吧原创 University professor who studies flood issues, calls it 鈥渁 once in a generation event. 鈥 I think it stands out in people鈥檚 memory because it hit so many places and lasted so long.鈥
The Flood of 1993, though, is notable for more than just the staggering toll it imposed on the region. The disaster provided the public and policymakers with hard-earned lessons about flood risk. But while progress has since been made to curb that risk in some areas, many say that even with a quarter-century of hindsight, the events of 1993 stand out most for critical lessons that have been ignored, and for the area鈥檚 continued 鈥 if not heightened 鈥 vulnerability to future major floods.
Questions asked at the time of the flood still apply today.
For instance, while aboard Air Force One on his way to visit the flood-ravaged area, President Bill Clinton was asked by the Post-Dispatch how levees and dams along the Upper Mississippi may have contributed to the disaster.
鈥淚 guess the candid answer to your question is I don鈥檛 know,鈥 Clinton told the paper. 鈥淲e really need to look at the extent to which federal policy made it better or made it worse.鈥
Twenty-five years later, those subjects Clinton broached 鈥 along with other questions about flood policy and river management 鈥 are still relevant. In fact, they could be even more urgent, depending on whom you ask.
That鈥檚 because in the time since, four other flood events 鈥 in 1995, 2013, 2016 and 2017 鈥 have cracked the list of the flood stages recorded at 最新杏吧原创.
Those events, and consistent with climate change forecasts, have stoked some concern about factors such as flood plain development and the reliance on levees for flood control 鈥 a line of defense that protects certain areas, but that some believe worsens risk elsewhere, by constricting rivers and pushing water higher.
Reassessing flood policy
Just as Clinton had mused to the Post-Dispatch, the 1993 flood sparked a top-down review of flood policy in its aftermath, meant to seize on teachable moments and identify opportunities for improvement. What followed, though, was what many describe as a mixed bag of incremental progress and roads not taken.
Beyond the sheer scale of the flood鈥檚 devastation, some thought the disaster鈥檚 high visibility from months of nightly media coverage could help grease the wheels for change.
鈥淚t was the CNN flood. ... 鈥93 is the flood that woke us up,鈥 said Gen. Gerald Galloway, the former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official who spearheaded a federally commissioned that was perhaps the leading assessment of the flood. The report stressed better coordination among local, state and federal actors, and called for restoring more natural connections of rivers and their flood plains 鈥 a suggestion that would require having less development in harm鈥檚 way.
Galloway and other flood experts point to some positive changes that followed. Buyouts of high-risk, flood plain properties, for example, became more common.
鈥淏efore 1993, there were very few buyouts,鈥 said Galloway, now a professor of engineering at the University of Maryland. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 55,000 buyouts since that time.鈥
Beyond the exodus of some individual property owners, communities such as Valmeyer and Rhineland, Mo. 鈥 two of the 75 towns completely inundated by flooding that year 鈥 relocated to higher elevations.
But some say the voluntary buyout system has ultimately been too scattershot to bring sweeping change to at-risk lowlands.
鈥淩ight now you only can go to willing sellers, 鈥檆ause it鈥檚 the rules, and that鈥檚 about the most inefficient way you can do this,鈥 said Brad Walker, the newly retired Big Rivers director for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.
Other areas 鈥 like achieving better-coordinated flood policies across different levels of government 鈥 have fallen woefully short of what Galloway and some others hoped.
Though he 鈥渨ishes more had been done鈥 to revamp flood governance since 1993, Galloway says certain shortcomings are understandable.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing more political than telling someone where they can or can鈥檛 live,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is communicate the risk and have people act on it.鈥
鈥楢 colossal failure鈥
Others are more critical when assessing flood policy actions taken 鈥 and not taken 鈥 since 1993.
鈥淚 view our current situation as a colossal failure of paying attention to the warnings of 1993,鈥 says Bob Criss, a professor in Washington University鈥檚 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences who researches flooding.
While buyouts have spared some properties from continued risk, he says that, in many areas, their impact has been offset by flood plain development.
鈥淚t seems to me, if anything, it鈥檚 one home out and 10 more in,鈥 Criss said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e surrendered huge acreage to the developers.鈥
He and many other critics point to Chesterfield as a chief example.
鈥淐hesterfield Valley was underwater in 鈥93 and there鈥檚, I鈥檝e heard, more than $1 billion of new stuff built there,鈥 said Criss, referencing the suburb鈥檚 acres of new strip malls and shopping outlets.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the poster child of bad and really ignorant development in a flood plain,鈥 agreed Walker.
Meanwhile, area levees have been reinforced, raised and newly built over the last 25 years 鈥 changes cheered as vital protective measures by some and viewed as potential amplifiers of flood risk by others. The structure protecting Chesterfield stands higher than it did in 鈥93, while Valley Park, along the Meramec River, welcomed a new levee that has become the focus of recent controversies about its height and potential impact on local flooding.
Concerns about levee impacts on floods in the Mississippi River Basin go back to at least the 1850s, when an engineer named Charles Ellet raised alarm echoed by Criss and others today.
鈥淗e basically said you cannot correct with levees the problems that levees, themselves cause,鈥 Criss said. 鈥淓llet knew it wasn鈥檛 going to work. We overbuilt the system and putting more and more stuff in these low-lying areas just aggravates the problem.鈥
In Chesterfield, at least, some tout the levee modifications as crucial investments in local safety and commerce, and say that flood plain development is done responsibly.
鈥淐hesterfield Valley has a substantially better levee system than it did in 鈥93,鈥 said David Human, a lawyer with levee and drainage system expertise, and the former executive director of the Monarch Chesterfield Levee District. 鈥淚f anything is developed within 600 to 1,000 feet of the levee, we send it to the corps, because we don鈥檛 want anything to affect the protection from the levee.鈥
The Army Corps of Engineers, meanwhile, steadfastly denies that the region鈥檚 levees worsen flood risk.
鈥淚鈥檒l take the easy way out and say floods come from rain. You can鈥檛 dispute that,鈥 Mike Feldmann, chief of programs and project management for the corps鈥 最新杏吧原创 District, told a group of environmental journalists last month in Alton.
Even though climate change makes the area more susceptible to extreme rain events, other experts insist that engineered changes to river systems compromise their ability to handle high water. They say not only is there less storage capacity for water in flood plains or wetlands, but that also could be the case as sedimentation fills in dam and river systems upstream.
鈥淭he capacity of those reservoirs is decreasing because of that,鈥 Hanes said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a problem kind of creeping up on us.鈥
鈥榃hen,鈥 not 鈥榠f鈥
While people disagree on whether the region is more or less vulnerable to floods, everyone seems to agree on one thing: Looking ahead, another disaster on par with 1993 will happen in just a matter of time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not an 鈥榠f,鈥 it鈥檚 a 鈥榳hen,鈥欌 said Human. 鈥淏ut the question is when? Is it next year, is it in five years, is it in 500 years? We don鈥檛 know.鈥
Although he wants property owners to make educated decisions about locating in a flood plain, he thinks building behind Chesterfield鈥檚 levee designed to withstand a 500-year flood is a safe bet.
鈥淲here isn鈥檛 there some risk?鈥 Human said. 鈥淔rom a risk standpoint, the likelihood of a New Madrid-type earthquake is at this point greater than a flood event that would exceed the design limits of the Chesterfield levee.鈥
Other flood experts say that 鈥 flawed or not 鈥 our current system is unlikely to change.
Some say that鈥檚 because flood mitigation is not valued properly.
鈥淲e still haven鈥檛 come to acceptance of the fact that protected and restored flood plain has economic value, one of the primary values being flood reduction,鈥 Walker said. 鈥淚f it had dollar value, a lot of these projects would just not be built.鈥
Decisions about living in flood-prone areas can also be shaped by access to insurance coverage.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a whole different set of questions than just the science of floods,鈥 Hanes said.
Plus, meaningful change would take a lot of money 鈥 a tough ask, given tight government budgets. But it would also require a political push that some think is unlikely to reach a critical mass because current flood policy works well enough for the majority of the population.
鈥淭he current system works pretty well for most people,鈥 said Jonathan Remo, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale professor specializing in flood and river issues. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e doomed to repeat ourselves because there鈥檚 just not a lot of political will to change the system.鈥
Take a look back at the flood of 1993
Flood of 1993 flood satellite image
This NASA satellite photo shows swollen rivers in the 最新杏吧原创 area during the height of the Flood of 1993. .
The Great Flood of 1993: April 15, 1993
Tom Ehlers, a city employee, wades in nearly knee-deep floodwater on April 15, 1993, to remove a barricade under the Eads Bridge on the 最新杏吧原创 riverfront. Flooding from the Mississippi River already had reached Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard, just east of the Gateway Arch. Photo by Renyold Ferguson
The Great Flood of 1993: April 15, 1993
George Johnson talks with Phil Turner (in the pickup truck) while they wait for a friend at the flood line on Hollywood Beach Road in Arnold on April 15, 1993. File photo by Jerry Naunheim
The Great Flood of 1993: April 18, 1993
A boat owned by Gateway Riverfront Cruises ferries employees of riverfront restaurants and other attractions to their floating businesses on April 18, 1993. Mississippi river waters had covered the levee and Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard. File photo by J.B. Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: July 3, 1993
Volunteers fill sandbags in the business district of Clarksville, Mo., while floodwater from the Mississippi River approaches the buildings in the background. Clarksville is about 60 miles north of 最新杏吧原创. File photo by Scott Dine
The Great Flood of 1993: July 3, 1993
The rain-swollen North River blasts over a levee at Highway 61 near Palmyra, Mo., July 3, 1993. It was one of the state's first levees to fail. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: July 7, 1993
A man pushes a load of sandbags through Clarksville on July 7, 1993. File photo by Scott Dine
The Great Flood of 1993: July 8, 1993
Kim Gillman, his wife, Jeanna, and their dog leave West Alton on July 8, 1993, via the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks 鈥斅爐he only way out of town on ground. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: July 8, 1993
Volunteers in Kimmswick work to secure plastic around a sandbag wall that protects the home of Brian Crow (far right) from the town's Rock Creek on July 8, 1993. Leaders of sandbag brigades quickly learned that, with the water likely to stay high, their walls were more durable when kept dry. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 8, 1993
Sandbags awaiting duty in Kimmswick on July 8, 1993, to try and redirect the flood waters from nearby Rock Creek around the town. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 8, 1993
Ray Cothern of south 最新杏吧原创 County takes his dog to higher ground on the rising Meramec River near his home on July 8, 1993. File photo by Ted Dargan
The Great Flood of 1993: July 9, 1993
Reed Bauer, 82, being rescued Thursday, July 9, 1993, by Coast Guardsmen from his home in northern St. Charles County. Bauer had to climb down from his second-floor balcony to get on the boat. He has lived on Dardenne Slough near the Mississippi River for almost 20 years. File photo by L.T. Spence
The Great Flood of 1993: July 10, 1993
A deer swims to safety through the flooded intersection of Highways 94 and 367 in West Alton on July 10, 1993. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 10, 1993
Floodwater from the Mississippi river surrounds grain elevators Friday,聽July 10, 1993, on the Great River Road at Broadway in Alton. The view is looking north. File photo by Sam Leone
The Great Flood of 1993: July 11, 1993
Floodwater from the Mississippi River closing in on a group of homes on Iffrig Road in St. Peters. One homeowner towed a friend's light airplane (foreground) to his front driveway after the landing strip at the rear of the house was covered with water. Neighbors said much of the flooding occurred early last week when a nearby levee broke. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993: July 11, 1993
Loretta Goehring hugs Sam Chapman in flood-threatened Kimmswick on July 11, 1993. Goehring was concerned that Chapman could make himself sick hauling his daughter's belongings out of her trailer in the hot, muggy weather. File photo By Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: July 13, 1993
The message that Martin Sontheimer had for his regard of the river rising about his home on Iffrig Road in St. Peters. This photograph, taken July 13, 1993, ran in newspapers worldwide. Sontheimer and his relatives living nearby spent days sandbagging around their homes, and he decided to inspire them. The sandbagging worked. Photo by Sam Leone
The Great Flood of 1993: July 16, 1993
Jay Springer used a johnboat Wednesday,聽July 16, 1993, to navigate the 3.5 miles of water between Highway 367 and his uncle's home on Cora Island Road near the Mel Price Locks and Dam. Boats offer the only way to get to Highway 367. Nine members of the Springer family聽鈥 six adults and three children聽鈥 are living in the house on the top floor. The first floor has several feet of water from the Mississippi River, but the home still has gas and electric service. "It's better than being out in a shelter someplace," said Janice Samples, Herbert Samples' wife. "We have some fun." Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: July 16, 1993
Predictions of a new crest on the Mississippi July 16, 1993 drew hundreds of volunteers to the banks of the River Des Peres, a tributary creek that winds through the city's south neighborhoods and the suburb of Lemay. The volunteers toiled in heat above 90 degrees and stifling humidity to pile more sandbags on the already-saturated soil. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993: July 17, 1993
President Bill Clinton surveys the damage by helicopter during his visit to the 最新杏吧原创 area on July 17, 1993. File photo by J.B. Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: July 18, 1993
Coast Guard officers and Humane Society workers round up cattle on a farm near Alton on July 18, 1993. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: July 18, 1993
Lisa Thess of the Pet Adoption Center of St. Charles unloads one of four dogs rescued Saturday,聽July 18, 1993, from the rooftop of a flooded home on Highway 94. John Cottle (left) and Terry Lee of the Missouri Water Patrol clutch two puppies that were saved. File photo by Sam Leone
The Great Flood of 1993: July 19, 1993
Sightseers gather on the grand staircase near the Gateway Arch to watch the flooding Mississippi River on July 19, 1993. On Aug. 1, 1993, the day the flood crested, the river rose exactly halfway up the 64 stairs, three feet higher than pictured. The prolonged and historic flood made headlines worldwide. File photo by J.B. Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: July 19, 1993
South 最新杏吧原创' streets runneth over July 19, 1993. As crest predictions rose throughout the summer, brigades of volunteers piled on more sandbags 鈥 but the River Des Peres kept rising to top them. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 20, 1993
A woman finds her path on Marceau Avenue in south 最新杏吧原创 blocked by floodwater on聽July 20, 1993. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: July 21, 1993
City worker James Holt wades across a levee break on the River Des Peres July 21, 1993, in a stinging rainstorm the day after the river was supposed to have crested. Mississippi backwater tossed aside a mile-long stretch of sodden sandbags that night in south St.Louis. But that wasn't the worst news: Equally heavy rains upstream would send the river heaving to new records a week later. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993: July 21, 1993
A field mouse clings to a twig amid floating dead prairie grass on聽July 21, 1993, on the Riverlands wetlands restoration project near West Alton. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 21, 1993
David Ellis pulls is boat by his home on Marble Street in Arnold about a half mile from the Meramec River on July 21, 1993. The property was ineligible for a buyout after the 1982 flooding, but the government bought the lot next door after 1982. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993: July 22, 1993
Everett Jones of Portage des Sioux paddles through town on July 22, 1993, on a boat he made using a piece of dock foam that floated up to his house, a piece of plywood and a metal chair. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 23, 1993
Illinois National Guard members reinforcing a sandbag levee Wednesday,聽July 23, 1993, in Alton. They are on Piasa Street near Broadway. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: July 23, 1993
Jim Lenk peeking into his home in Old Monroe of Thursday, July 23, 1993. The Mississippi and Cuivre rivers broke through a levee. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.聽
The Great Flood of 1993: July 25, 1993
In St. Charles County, water takes over several mobile home parks on July 25, 1993. Photo by Odell Mitchell
The Great Flood of 1993: July 25, 1993
Residents of Kaskaskia Island, Ill., carrying one of the stray pigs they found Friday,聽July 25 1993, along the ruptured levee of the flooded area. Earlier, they saved about 50 pigs from the roof of a building. File photo by Odell Mitchell
The Great Flood of 1993: July 25, 1993
Theresa Gluckhertz embracing her husband, Scott, on Thursday evening,聽July 25, 1993, as friends helped evacuate them from their home of 13 years in the St. Charles Mobile Home Community. They were among 700 St. Charles County residents ordered to evacuate. Photo by Wendi Fitzgerald
The Great Flood of 1993: July 25, 1993
Dale Westfall tows some of his family's belonging out of the South Shore subdivision in northern St. Charles County, while his wife, Debby, carries 5-year-old Jesse, on July 25, 1993. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: July 25, 1993
Every street in the town of Portage des Sioux is flooded on July 25, 1993. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 25, 1993
Frank Micklack stands ankle deep in muck as he and other Kimmswick residents worked feverishly to stay ahead of the water on July 25, 1993. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 26, 1993
Coast Guardsman Tom Jasina (left) and Bill Doer on Sunday,聽July 26, 1993, ferrying Msgr. Donald E. Rau in Portage des Sioux. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 26, 1993
Joan Gust of Portage de Sioux reacting Sunday,聽July 26, 1993, to news that the Mississippi River will continue to rise and force her to leave her home. "I want to know who the hell's having so much fun that we have to suffer so," Gust said. At left is Paul Vossenkemper, her neighbor. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: July 26, 1993
Residents of Prairie de Rocher, Ill., and volunteers building a rock and sandbag levee Sunday,聽July 26, 1993, to protect the town from a threatened levee break about three miles away. Photo by Gary Bohn
The Great Flood of 1993: July 27, 1993
Rescuers work to save pigs Monday,聽July 27, 1993, at a farm about 2 miles south of Chester, Ill. The rescue workers had to cut holes in the roof of the building to get the pigs out. File photo by Sam Leone
The Great Flood of 1993: July 27, 1993
A National Guard helicopter preparing Monday,聽July 27, 1993, to airlift sandbags to an endangered levee just north of Prairie de Rocher, Ill. File photo by Kevin Manning
The Great Flood of 1993: July 1993
The receding Mississippi reveals its former power in the positions of two tanker trucks near Highway 367 east of West Alton. A farmer had moved the vehicles to what he thought was high ground in July 1993. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: July 1993
Scientists predicted "above normal" rainfall for the Midwest last year, but nothing in the predictions indicated storms of biblical proportions. This photo was taken in Portage des Sioux during one of the storms in early July 1993. File photo by J.B. Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: July 1993
Amy Kussman, 12, poses on the roof of her flooded home on the Meramec River in July 1993. File photo by Wes Paz
The Great Flood of 1993: July 1993
An inland sea surrounds a farm in north St. Charles County during the Great Flood of 1993. Even farmers on high ground suffered from the flood because crop diseases, weeds and insects flourished in the soaked soil and moist air. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 1, 1993
Water rushes over farm land on Aug. 1, 1993, moments after a breach in the Columbia, Illl., levee. The levee is the white line below the trees. The breach is left of center. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 1, 1993
Highway 40 (Interstate 64) in the Chesterfield Valley is drowned in Missouri River floodwater Aug. 1, 1993, after the failure of the Monarch Chesterfield Levee. Much of the area flooded in 1993 has now been developed into commercial properties. The levee was rebuilt at a higher level. Photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 1, 1993
An aerial view shows widespread flooding in an industrial area in Chesterfield Bottoms on Aug. 1, 1993. This photo was taken the morning after the Missouri River burst through the Monarch levee. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 1, 1993
Water rushes over farm land on Aug. 1, 1993, moments after a breach in the Columbia, Illl., levee. The levee is the white line below the trees. The breach is left of center. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 1, 1993
Water rushes over farm land on Aug. 1, 1993, moments after a breach in the Columbia, Illl., levee. The levee is the white line below the trees. The breach is left of center. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 1, 1993
After losing their farmhouse in north St. Charles, Sherrill and Larry Whorrall moved into a Red Cross shelter in the First United Methodist Church; they were there on Aug. 1, 1993. With them are Travis, 18 months, and Aaron, 3. Photo by Gary Bohn
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 2, 1993
Guard dog Wolf waits for help at Sachs Electric Co. in the Chesterfield valley on Aug. 2, 1993. The Animal Rescue Team was able to rescue the dog. File photo by Jerry Naunheim
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 3, 1993
A powerful wedge of water surging through the Fountain Creek levee Monday,聽Aug. 3, 1993, about 1 1/2 miles north of Valmeyer. Mississippi River floodwater is at the left of the tree line. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 3, 1993
Valmeyer Community High School under water Monday,聽Aug. 3, 1993, after the levee break. The town is south of 最新杏吧原创 in Monroe County, Illinois, near the Mississippi River. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 3, 1993
Trucks from the St. Charles Quarry Co. parked on high ground near the Missouri River on Aug. 3, 1993. The quarry is south of Interstate 70. Photo by Scott Dine
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 3, 1993
Inundated homes on聽Aug. 3, 1993 in a residential area of Valmeyer, a town of about 900 people that was evacuated. Valmeyer last flooded in 1947, before a levee was built. Photo by Scott Dine
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 3, 1993
Marie Wright (right) and her niece, Jackie Wright, 13, and Marie Wright's children wait for help on Aug. 3, 1993, at a shelter for River Des Peres-area evacuees at Cleveland Naval Junior ROTC High School. Marie Wright holds Jonathan, 2, and Jackie holds Amanda, 10 months. File photo by Wes Paz
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 3, 1993
A tail fin of a plane at Spirit of 最新杏吧原创 Airport sticks out of the floodwaters on Aug. 3, 1993, three days after the Monarch Levee was breached by floodwaters from the Missouri River. The airport control tower is in the background. File photo by Jerry Naunheim
The Great Flood of 1993
An aerial view of two vehicles on an inundated road near Portage des Sioux, in St. Charles County. Floodwater has made travel in the area hazardous. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993
Two planes, inoperable and used to salvage parts, float into a tree at Spirit of 最新杏吧原创 airport in 1993. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993
Coast Guard Reserve Petty Officer Richard McComber, making rounds among mobile home residents near Portage des Sioux, checks in with Vance Virgin, Randy Witmore and Sheila Griffith. About 170 Coast Guard reservists helped patrol the 最新杏吧原创 area during the 1993 flood; they came from as far away as Memphis and Leavenworth, Kan. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 4, 1993
Carol DuFrenne, of Prairie du Rocher, mourns the loss of a hand-built home and new machine shed, after officials deliberately broke a levee to relieve pressure, on Aug. 4, 1993. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 5, 1993
Illinois National Guardsman Brice Springman of Brownstown, Ill., passing a sandbag at the levee on Aug. 5, 1993. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 5, 1993
A view Wednesday of the sandbagging operation Aug. 5, 1993, at Prarie du Rocher, Ill., where residents joined with strangers to raise the levee in time for Friday's expected crest of the Mississippi River. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 6, 1993
Keith and Teresa Ham, residents of the mobile home park, returning home Tuesday,聽Aug. 6, 1993, for the first time since they were forced to evacuate. The couple took the journey in a boat operated by St. Charles firefighter John Oddie. About 265 families lived in the mobile home park. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 8, 1993
A johnboat making its way this week (August 1993) through the flooded Deerfield Village Mobile Home Park in St. Charles. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 9, 1993
Immaculate Conception Church on Kaskaskia Island in Illinois surrounded by floodwater from the Mississippi River on Sunday morning, Aug. 9, 1993. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 10, 1993
A Missouri Highway Department vehicle traveling Monday,聽Aug. 10, 1993, on flooded Highway 40 in Chesterfield. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 11, 1993
Alma McKay crying Tuesday,聽Aug. 11, 1993, over what she saw upon returning to her home in the 500 block of Davis Street, near the River Des Peres and the Mississippi River. She says floodwater destroyed the house she and her husband lived in for more than 40 years. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 12, 1993
Roxanne Cole, Rebecca Hannah, Joshua Hannah and Keith Zimmer, all of Valmeyer, on Wednesday,聽Aug. 12, 1993, at the tent city for flood victims. Post-Dispatch file photo
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 15, 1993
An old photo and a banjo clock top a pile of flood-damaged goods piled on a South Broadway curb in 最新杏吧原创 on Aug. 15, 1993. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 15, 1993
Jim Countney hefts a damaged piece of furniture onto a pile on Aug. 15, 1993, outside the This N That Shop on South Broadway. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 20, 1993
Alice Davis, a waitress at Orville & Wilbur's Restaurant & Bar in Chesterfield, filmed flood damage on Aug. 20, 1993, at Chesterfield Airport Road. She visited the restaurant to help clean up the flood damage. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 22, 1993
Linda Martinson, comptroller of Trend Manufacturing Co., and Ted Liebig, Trend's president, ride to their offices in Chesterfield Valley in the back of a truck on Aug. 22, 1993. The water was still too high last week for them to go in safely by car. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 22, 1993
Dead vegetation atop a street sign in the Chesterfield Valley on Aug. 22, 1993, served as a mark for the flood. Photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 23, 1993
The confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers during the height of the flooding; picture was dated Aug. 23 1993, but the flood peaked on Aug. 1 in the area. File photo by Odell Mitchell
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 25, 1993
Floodwaters cover Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard on the 最新杏吧原创 riverfront on Aug. 25, 1993. Water remained two to three feet deep on the street. A boat that broke loose from its moorings hit the leaning cypress tree pictured here. At the height of the flood, only the tree's top showed. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 25, 1993
Lee Kennebeck, 82, took a break on Aug. 25, 1993, from flood cleanup at her home in the 500 block of Hurck Street, in south 最新杏吧原创 near the River Des Peres. Kennebeck had lived in the house for 46 years.聽 File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Aug. 28, 1993
Todd Patterson, a volunteer flood worker from Colorado, suffered from the heat in Lemay on Aug. 28, 1993. Patterson had been cleaning up flood-damaged homes. Emergency Medical Service supervisor Rodney Dreifuss gave Patterson oxygen as co-workers use a blanket to shield him from the sun. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: August 1993
Flooded farms near Valmeyer are part of about 70,000 acres of cropland under water in Monroe County in August 1993. The Illinois town had battled the flood 24 days before the levee broke. File photo by Scott Dine
The Great Flood of 1993: August 1993
Coffins that the Missouri River lifted out of a cemetery in August 1993 in Hardin, Mo., come to rest on flood-damaged Missouri Route 10. The river moved 756 of the cemetery's 1,544 dead. File photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.
The Great Flood of 1993: August 1993
Its covered gangways awash to the roofs, the Alton Belle Casino gambling boat relies on a long, makeshift walkway to one of the city's dry spots in August 1993. Although the boats couldn't cruise, bettors kept the slot machines jingling on the Belle and other are gambling boats. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The Great Flood of 1993: August 1993
Flooded farms near Valmeyer are part of about 70,000 acres of cropland under water in Monroe County in August 1993. The Illinois town had battled the flood 24 days before the levee broke.
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 1, 1993
James G. Mohan, a spokesman for the Defense Mapping Agency, surveyed the flood damage at the entrance to the company's computer area at the agency's compound on South Broadway on Sept. 1, 1993. File photo by Wayne Crosslin
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 5, 1993
Water inches closer to airplanes parked on the highest ground available at Smartt Field in St. Charles County on Sept. 5, 1993. Photo by Renyold Ferguson
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 5, 1993
Ron and Shirley Robertson stand in front of their ruined possessions on Sept. 5, 1993, at their West Alton home. The water was still receding away from the back of their home. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 13,1993
About 200 Arkansas college students came to St. Charles County recently to help with flood cleanup. They are shown along Dwiggins Road in West Alton on Sept. 13, 1993. File photo by L.T. Spence
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 24, 1993
Passer-by Tracey Vorthman on Thursday,聽Sept. 24, 1993, viewing the Kehrs Mill Road bridge over Caulks Creek, south of Strecker Road in far west 最新杏吧原创 County. The bridge collapsed Wednesday night. Photo by J.B Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 24, 1993
Roberta Mathis, carrying her dog Maggie, being helped from a boat on Sept. 24, 1993, by firefighter Darren Moore, left, and Capt. Greg Shuster of the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District. Mathis lives next to the Big River and left when the water rose. She left seven dogs behind. Photo by J.B. Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 24, 1993
Keith Allison (left) and Allen Shonk walk on Thursday, Sept. 24, 1993, on debris-covered railroad tracks in the Chesterfield Valley. File photo by J.B. Forbes
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 25, 1993
Ranchers herding cattle to safety Friday,聽Sept. 25, 1993, after the cattle were stranded in floodwater on a ranch near Morse Mill in Jefferson County. The Big River trapped the animals when it overflowed its banks. File photo by Ted Dargan
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 25, 1993
A 最新杏吧原创 County Highway Department worker used his shirt to protect him from the rain on Sept. 25, 1993. The drizzle made sandbagging difficult near the corner of Fannie and Military roads. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 26, 1993
Residents traveling by boat to inspect their mobile homes, flooded by the nearby Big River, on Sept. 26, 1993. Photo by Odell Mitchell
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 27, 1993
Terry Everhart trying Sunday to row his deck back to his trailer home, which is flooded by the Meramec River, on Sept. 27 1993. Between 80 and 85 trailer homes in the Stonebridge Manor Trailer Park are flooded. The Meramec is expected to rise another 2 feet. Photo by Odell Mitchell
The Great Flood of 1993: Sept. 27, 1993
The Missouri River lapped at the edges of Highway 40 (Interstate 64) in Chesterfield on Sept. 27, 1993, in a view looking west at the entrance to the valley. Much of the valley had been underwater for over a month. Photo by Jerry Naunheim
The Great Flood of 1993: Oct. 1, 1993
Wallace Foster installed electric meters on Oct. 1, 1993, for flood-damaged Chesterfield businesses. "I spend eight hours a day in waders," he said. File photo by Scott Dine
The Great Flood of 1993: Oct. 2, 1993
A view Friday,聽Oct. 2, 1993, of water still swamping the town of Valmeyer, Ill., which the Mississippi River inundated when it went on its summer rampage. The area has had little relief. File photo by Jim Rackwitz
The town was eventually moved so that it was no longer in the flood plain; Valmeyer now sits above the bluff, with just a few buildings left where the village once was.
The Great Flood of 1993: Oct. 3, 1993
Bruce Gillette (right), a Jaycee from Colorado, ripped out a water-damaged floor in the 8300 block of Alabama Avenue on Oct. 3, 1993. About 150 Colorado Jaycees were working at flood cleanup in the area. File photo by Larry Williams
The Great Flood of 1993: Nov. 18, 1993
Patricia Brown-Temple inspects her Morse Mill home on Nov. 18, 1993, for the first time since the floodwater receded. Her granddaughter, Darrah, 3 (center) and her daughter, Jennifer, 10, accompanied her. File photo by Karen Elshout
The Great Flood of 1993: Nov. 21, 1993
Greg Patton, on Nov. 21, 1993, stares at the remnants of his home, which the Mississippi River ripped apart and dumped in a field in Alexander County, Illinois. File photo by Scott Dine
