3/24/93
By: Brien Murphy
Courier-Post Staff Writer

Twenty years ago today, Northeast Missouri residents began watching the Mississippi River closely as flood waters began creeping past the 20-foot-deep mark in Hannibal and started long, soggy wait before the river went back to its normal banks.

The Great Flood of 1973, which peaked in Hannibal in late April with a 28.5-foot crest more than 12 feet above technical flood stage caused nearly $356 million in damage nationwide, caused about 30 deaths and left 35,000 people from Iowa to Mississippi homeless.

Heavy snowfall that winter north of the Hannibal area ran off into the Mississippi River as it melted, sending water southward with nowhere to go.

The river rose to 20.1 feet at midnight March 24, according to Courier-Post articles at the time. Several days later, water rose to 22.6 feet, and people began to have serious concerns about flooding. The first sign of really bad news was the sewage treatment plant became inoperable because of high water, sending raw sewage into the river.

By March 27, water was curb-high on Main Street, while Nipper Park and the Hannibal National Bank parking lot were completely under water. Route 79 betweem Clarksville and Louisiana was closed, as were the Burlington-Northern railroad tracks.

Among the first deaths caused by flooding was that of Charlotte Hadler of Winfield. She died when her refrigerator, which was on top of cement blocks, toppled over on her and pinned her under six inches of water. By March 31, levees broke in Old Monroe and Winfield, threatening 4,000 acres of farmland.

Water crested in Hannibal at 24.1 feet April 3. Clarksville residents saw the highest water mark since 1851 when water crested at 31.1 feet April 4. The water then began to recede, but only for a short time. Following an early-April snowstorm, the river began rising again, and this time, the flooding would be much worse.

Rain continued to fall throughout April. On April 21, the Courier-Post reported 3 inches of rain fell overnight, bringing the river level to 19.9 feet, almost four feet above the technical flood stage of 16 feet. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings from Dubuque, Iowa, south to Cape Girardeau.

Flooding began again in earnest April 22, Easter Sunday, in Hannibal. Water reached the tops of parking meters on South Main Street and some homes along Bear Creek were full of water. Lock and Dam 24 in Clarksville and Lock and Dam 25 in Winfield were closed to river traffic, and in the next few days, U.S. 61, one of the main links to Northeast Missouri, was closed near Canton and LaGrange.

By the last week of April, the extent of the tragedy was becoming obvious. In Taylor, a levee broke April 23, covering 14,000 acres of farmland. Nearly 30,000 acres near Elsberry were under water. About 10 million acres from Wisconsin to Mississippi were under water. Residents of Foley and Old Monroe were evacuated.

The Mark Twain Bridge in Hannibal was closed April 23. The President's Office of Emergency Preparedness opened an office at Fourth and Bird streets and nearly 250 people sought help by April 26. About 80 people left homeless by the flood stayed at First Christian Church at Red Cross headquarters.

Adding insult to injury was a fire at the Standard Printing Co. building April 26. Water, usually the firefighter's friend when battling flames, kept fire crews from doing their job. All they could do was float by in the 6-to-10-foot deep water and watch the destruction.

The river crested at 28.5 feet April 25. But the flooding wasn't over yet.

By April 28, the Mark Twain Bridge had reopened, but bridges in West Quincy and Louisiana were closed. Also closed were U.S. 54 in Louisiana, U.S. 24 in West Quincy and U.S. 61 from Alexandria south to LaGrange. Parts of Route 79 south of Hannibal also remained closed.

By April 30, resignations of key White House officials tied to the Watergate scandal moved the flood from the top of the front page, but not off page one completely. Main Street was still under three to four feet of water and reached up to the old International Shoe Factory building on Collier Street. And two inches of rain fell in Hannibal.

By May 2, the river began rising again, but business owners along Main Street began returning to their businesses to clean up the mess. Meanwhile, Foley was completely under water. Barge travel was still at a standstill.

The final crest came May 5 at about 24 feet. The Department of Housing and Urban Development sent several dozen mobile homes to help people left homeless by flooding.

Finally, the worst was over. The National Guard left town, the Red Cross shelter at First Christian Church closed May 10 and the water receded to about 20 feet by May 23. All told, the river remained above technical flood stage for more than 70 days.