Images of the Past
Missouri River Flood 1916
Season 9 Episode 1 | 1m 58sVideo has Closed Captions
Missouri River Flood 1916
Missouri River Flood 1916
Images of the Past is a local public television program presented by SDPB
Support is provided by the Friends of SDPB
Images of the Past
Missouri River Flood 1916
Season 9 Episode 1 | 1m 58sVideo has Closed Captions
Missouri River Flood 1916
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- In 1916, it was the same thing that happened.
It was a heavy, hard winter, lots of snow.
And March 5th is when this nice weather came through.
And that is when the ice gorge had built up and blocked the water.
And they documented that on March 5th.
And the water had nowhere else to go.
Again, the water that was coming down from the Marne Creek and from the Jim River had nowhere else to go except for out, and so did the Missouri.
And it was not as bad as the 81 flood.
I think on average, like the ice gorges there were only about 20 feet tall versus the ones from 1881,. like I said, were about 30 to 50 feet.
So it kinda gives you an idea about how far away.
So it wasn't as bad.
It was definitely very traumatic March.
You have a lot of cold weather yet, and even though the weather above the water is nice and, you know, fifties, all the water, of course, is still sitting in ice.
So it's not a matter of just waiting and waiting through that water to higher ground.
It's freezing, you know, and you're not gonna survive that water.
Fortunately, in 1916, there was no loss of human life.
Somehow through all of it, it's a miracle that they did not lose.
The amount of livestock loss, though, was huge.
There was catastrophic loss and farm livestock.
A lot of livelihoods were very heavily damaged by that flood.
Images of the Past is a local public television program presented by SDPB
Support is provided by the Friends of SDPB