“…the great floodgates of the wonder-world swung open…”*

by chuckofish

On this day in 1844 the Missouri and Mississippi rivers reached the most devastating flood stages in history. The Mississippi River swelled to nearly 12 miles wide during the the flood. Crowds gathered on rooftops in St. Louis to watch the houses and trees of Illinoistown (now East St. Louis) being carried away. Steamboats that were still running on the river reported crashing into chimneys and mill machinery hidden below the water’s surface. River pirates took small boats back into the flooded, abandoned towns, looting the upper stories of homes.

The 1844 flood and 1993 flood square off as St. Louis’s “biggest”—the 1844 flood carried 21 percent more water, but the 1993 flood crested more than 8 feet higher. Had the 1993 flood carried the 1844 flood’s volume, it would have almost certainly crested St. Louis’s floodwall (the 1993 flood came within three feet of crest).

To give you an idea, here’s a photo of high water–flooded levee with buildings on one side and boats on the other–at St. Louis during the 1858 flood. (Missouri Historical Society Collections.)

Not until June 28 did the waters begin to recede. By the middle of July the river was back to normal.

After the flood, Congress passed the Swamp Act in 1849 providing land grants to build stronger levees.

“A young man was sitting at home when a terrible rainstorm began. Within hours, the man’s house began to flood, and someone came to his door offering a ride to higher ground. The man declined, saying, ‘God will take care of me.’ A few hours later, as the waters engulfed the first floor of the man’s home, a boat passed by, and the captain offered to take the man to safety. The man declined, saying, ‘God will take care of me.’ A few hours after that, as the man waited on his roof—his entire home flooded—a helicopter flew by, and the pilot offered transportation to dry land. Again the man declined, telling the pilot that God would care for him. Soon thereafter, the waters overcame the man, and as he stood before God in heaven, he protested his fate: ‘You promised that you’d help me so long as I was faithful.’ God replied, ‘I sent you a car, a boat, and a helicopter. Your death is your own fault.’ God helps those who help themselves.”

–J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy

*Herman Melville, Moby-Dick