The lessons learned from this flood focus on the performance of the levees, governmental responses, the effects of flood fighting, change in stages due to levee breaches, flood modeling, and the lack of information dissemination to the public on the technical aspects of the flood. These lessons point out information gaps and the need for research in the areas of hydraulics and hydrology, meteorology, sediment transport and sedimentation, surface and ground-water interactions, water quality, and levees. The report presents a comprehensive summary of the 1993 flood as far as climate, hydrology, and hydraulics are concerned.

From mid-June through early August 1993, flooding was severe in the upper Mississippi River Basin following a wet-weather pattern that persisted over the area for at least 6 months before the flood. The magnitude and timing of several intense rainstorms in late June and July, combined with wet antecedent climatic conditions, were the principal causes of the flooding. Flood-peak discharges that equaled or exceeded the 10-year recurrence interval were recorded at 154 streamflow-gaging stations in the upper Mississippi River Basin. At 41 streamflow-gaging stations, the peak discharge was greater than the previous maximum known discharge. At 15 additional gaging stations, peak discharges exceeded the previous maximum regulated peak discharge. At 45 gaging stations, peak discharges exceeded 100-year recurrence intervals.

"Each time the waters of the mighty Mississippi River overflow their banks, questions arise anew about the battle between "man" and "river". How can we prevent floods and the damage they inflict while maintaining navigational potential and protecting the river's ecology?" "The design of the Mississippi and how it should proceed has long been a subject of controversy. What is missing from the discussion, say the authors of this book, is an understanding of the representations of the Mississippi River. Landscape architect Anuradha Mathur and architect/planner Dilip da Cunha draw together an array of perspectives on the river and show how these different images have played a role in the process of designing and containing the river landscape. Analyzing maps, hydrographs, working models, drawings, photographs, government and media reports, painting, and even folklore, Mathur and da Cunha consider what these representations of the river portray, what they leave out, and why that might be. With original silk screen prints and a selection of maps, the book joins historic, scientific, engineering, and natural views of the river to create an entirely new portrait of the great Mississippi."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The flood that affected a third of the United States during the summer of 1993 was the nation's worst, ranking as a once-in-300-years event. It severely tested national, state, and local systems for managing natural resources and for handling emergencies, illuminating both the strengths and weaknesses in existing methods of preparing for and dealing with massive prolonged flooding. Through detailed case studies, this volume diagnoses the social and economic impacts of the disaster, assessing how resource managers, flood forecasters, public institutions, the private sector, and millions of volunteers responded to it. The first comprehensive evaluation of the 1993 flood, this book examines the way in which floods are forecast and monitored, the effectiveness of existing recovery processes, and how the nation manages its floodplains. The volume concludes with recommendations for the future, in hope of better preparing the country for the next flood or other comparable disaster.

The Flood of 1993 was an unusual and significant hydrometeorological event that devastated the Midwest. The 1993 was distinctive from all other record floods in terms of its magnitude, severity, damage and the season in which it occurred. The present report contains information about the flood and the general involvement of the Corps in the flood-affected areas. An appendix which provides detailed flood descriptions, data, and information on Corps flood control, flood fight and post flood activities is included for each of the district offices involved: Appendices A (St. Paul District) and Appendices B (Rock Island District) cover the Mississippi River basin above Lock and Dam no. 22; Appendix C (St. Louis District) concerns the Mississippi River basin below Lock and Dam no. 22; Appendix D (Omaha District) and Appendix E (Kansas City District) cover the Missouri River Basin.