Prelude to the 1993 Flood
Lucas county, Iowa
The Great Flood of 1993 began in the fall of 1992. Flooding occurred in the south-central portion of Iowa on September 15, 1992. Normal rainfall had preceded that fall, but by September the rains had picked up. Chariton received 7.21 inches of rain in a 24-hour period between September 15-16. The nearby town of Derby, also located in Lucas County, received 12.06 inches of rain. “During the floods, small creeks became torrents, while rivers quickly became lakes; some of the rivers swelled to as wide as 5 miles,” reported a government account of the floods. Some areas of the county received 17.86 inches in total that month, with a countywide average in September 1992 of 10.82 inches. This rainfall is 266% of typical average rainfall in September for Lucas County.
The damages caused by the 1992 floods were far from minor. With 30 of the area’s bridges damaged and other buildings impacted, an estimated $10 million was required to repair the county. September also marks the beginning of the end of the crop season. Unfortunately, much of the year’s crops were damaged. “Many crops were washed-away or flattened by the flooding. Agricultural officials estimated that thousands of acres of crops were damaged or destroyed, and that crop yields were reduced on about 147,000 acres in a 13-county area [of south-central Iowa].”
Lucas County’s damages in 1992 would rival the damages caused by the coming summer’s flooding. “In Lucas County, U.S. Highways 34 and 65 at Lucas, U.S. Highway 65 south of Lucas, and all high- ways into Chariton were closed during the floods. At Lucas, 25 empty coal-rail cars were swept off the track and toppled onto their sides during the flooding. David Lundquist, Lucas County ASCS Director, reported 3,000 to 4,000 acres of cropland were inundated, or about six percent of the 67,000 acres of corn and soybeans in the county.”
According to the Iowa Government Report, over $2.1 million of support was available for Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Union, and Wayne Counties. The funding was provided for by the Public Assistance Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It did not include residential and agricultural damage, which would be covered by separate insurance.
The flooding returned to Lucas County on July 5, 1993. Water again covered Chariton, when 7.63 inches of rain fell between July 4-5. “Floodwaters from the Chariton River flowed over the emergency spillway at Rathbun Dam for the first time since the operation of the dam began in 1969.” Again, the Public Assistance Program of FEMA provided funds to the 6-county area (Adair, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Union, and Wayne Counties). During this flood, more than $1.9 million was available in assistance.
Similar flooding occurred statewide. “In early July, Iowa was hit with numerous record rainfalls. Storm totals of up to 8 inches were again common. Record flooding occurred on the Skunk, Iowa, and Des Moines Rivers. The flow from these rivers combined with already near-record flows on the Mississippi River to push the stage at St. Louis up to a new record high stage of 47 feet on July 20th.” “As a result of the floods of 1993, all 99 counties in Iowa were declared Federal disaster areas.”
Across North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois, 50 deaths and more than $15 billion in damages occurred.
Sources: Charles A. Perry, “Summary of Floods in the United States, January 1992 Through September 1993,), 1999; “The Great Flood of 1993,” The National Weather Service; David A. Eash and Barbara A. Koppensteiner, “Floods Of September 15-16, 1992, in The Thompson, Weldon, And Chariton River Basins, South-Central Iowa,” U.S. Geological Survey, 1997.