The problem had started months earlier. A rainy fall in 1992 led into a winter with above-average snow; when the rainy spring season started the ground was already saturated and the rain had nowhere to go. It kept raining through the summer, especially in Iowa to the north and South Dakota to the west. Our state wasn't spared the summer rain, either. In Kansas City they got more than six extra inches of rain in July, and We had about an inch more than average. Rivers started overflowing their banks, and the mess headed our way.
In July 1993 there were daily requests on the radio and TV stations for emergency volunteers. That summer my boys went to a camp several mornings each week. Whenever possible I'd drive to the closest sandbagging location after I dropped them off and put in a couple of hours helping out before it was time for them to come home. We also held a garage sale with another family and donated the proceeds to the Red Cross.
At the worst of the flooding some friends and I took our kids downtown to see the mess from the grounds of the Gateway Arch. It was awe-inspiring. The Arch sets high above the Mississippi, with a Grand Staircase on the east side of the grounds down to the river levee. There are 64 steps in the staircase. In 1993 the water rose halfway up them:
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| They're not as close to the water as it looks |
Five years ago today: New Thing #199--Pet Theory
Wow! I do not remember that at all. I was pregnant with the triplets and chasing a two year old. ha. I probably never watched the news back then!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure you had other things on your mind :-)
DeleteI didn't live in St. Louis back then (or anywhere near the flooding). I spent that summer as an exchange student in Mexico, and the flooding made their national news. On our way home at the end of the summer, we flew over the Mississippi on our way to the Chicago airport, and the pilot got permission to fly low enough that you could see the flooding. I clearly remember seeing what was obviously the banks of the river (probably stacked with sand bags). The actual water stretched probably 3-4 river-widths to either side of where the river should have been, maybe more.
ReplyDeleteKristi Lea, I'm sure the wide river was something to see. The closest I got to an "eagle eye" view was from the Chesterfield Parkway overpass looking out over Highway 40 towards St. Charles where the levee had failed.
Deletewow, that must have been something to see the arch submerged like that.
ReplyDelete