Mississipi Floods of 1993

A set of cards covering the causes, effects and management

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  • Created by: Helena
  • Created on: 01-06-09 10:03

Causes (physical and human)

Physical

  • Heavy snows in the previous winter melted and the water flowed into the Mississipi and it's tributaries
  • Very heavy rain and violent storms had happened for 50 days before the floods

Human

  • Sandbags were removed from levées upstream
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Effects

  • $20 billion costs estimated
  • 28 people died
  • 36 000 left homeless
  • 6 million acres of farmland flooded
  • electricity, roads and railways were cut off for a significant length of time
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Management (short term and long term)

Short term

  • Sandbags were added to levées to strengthen them

Long term

  • Meanders were cut off to straighten the river and enable faster flow
  • Levées were extended
  • Revertments were installed
  • The river was dredged to increase the cross sectional area of the channel
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