8/2/93

The Courier-Post's daily flood log
* April 1 ‹ The Mississippi River tops 16 feet at Hannibal, which is technical flood stage here.
* April 6 ‹ The river is at 18. 8 feet and rising, and the city installs two river gate wells to keep water from flooding storm sewers and streets.
* April 8 ‹ City officials consider whether to install flood gates at the downtown levee.
* April 9 ‹ Street Department workers install two flood gates at Hill and Center streets after the river was predicted to crest at 21.3 feet by April 11.
* April 12 ‹ The river crests at Hannibal at 21 feet, with more rain predicted.
* April 13 ‹ A New London woman is killed and five people are injured in a crash on Route 79 during a heavy rain.
* April 13 ‹ The Bear Creek Dam is closed, though backwater has already flooded the banks.
* April 14 ‹ A thunderstorm that dumps nearly an inch of rain on Hannibal knocks out power in two neighborhoods.
* April 16 ‹ A rural Troy teen and a Foley teen are killed when the car they were riding in plunges into the flooded Cuivre River near Troy.
* April 16 ‹ The city slides in the final three flood gates.
* April 17 ‹ The river crests again, this time at 22.42 feet at Hannibal.
* April 19 ‹ A thunderstorm dumps 1.42 inches of rain on Hannibal.
* April 21 ‹ At Mark Twain Lake, Corps officials close five boat ramps and issue warnings about floating debris.
* April 22 ‹ Residents evacuate their homes on South Main Street and along Bear Creek as flood waters continue to rise.
* April 23 ‹ Flooding forces streets and highways to close throughout Northeast Missouri.
* April 27 ‹ The river crests at 24.1 feet, making the April flood the third worst in Hannibal's history.
* April 27 ‹ Water nears the top of the Winfield levee.
* May 3 ‹ Disaster aid is sought for Lincoln County.
* May 11 ‹ A Hannibal city official estimates cleanup will cost less than $10,000.
* May 12 ‹ The river falls 1 1/2 feet in two days, to 21.57 feet.
* May 21 ‹ All five flood gates are removed from the downtown levee.
* June 18 ‹ About 2 1/3 inches of rain falls on the Hannibal area in less than two hours, flooding streets and basements.
* June 25 ‹ City officials install flood gates after a crest prediction of almost 22 feet is issued by the National Weather Service.
* June 25 ‹ xxxxxxxxx is closed to motorists as workers sandbag the wall there to reach 30 feet high.
* June 25 ‹ Excess water from the Mississippi River begins to collect on some roads in Saverton. Campers at Camp Oko-Tipi in Saverton leave the camp via pickup trucks to get through the high water.
* June 25 ‹ County roads and highways are closed because of high water.
* June 28 ‹ The National Weather Services calls for a crest of 25 feet July 3, which would have been the second-worst flood in recorded history.
* June 29 ‹ Flooding forces Jaycees to move some Tom Sawyer Days events.
* June 29 ‹ Water from the flooded Bear Creek has reached several homes, but no one had sought shelter from the Red Cross or Salvation Army.
* June 30 ‹ Weather officials predict the river will creep to 26 feet.
* June 30 ‹ High water flowing over lock and dam systems causes boat traffic on the Mississippi to halt for 500 miles. About 30 tow boats and 300 barges are stalled. * June 30 ‹ Hannibal officials and Missouri Highway and Transportation Department workers rescue residents trapped by the flood.
* July 1 ‹ Heavy rains, unconfirmed tornadoes and hail overnight add water to flooded areas, forcing some Hannibal residents and business people to evacuate. The river at Hannibal was expected to crest at an all-time high of 29 feet on July 3, a level that would top the 28.59-foot mark set in 1973.
* July 1 ‹ The Quincy Memorial Bridge at West Quincy is closed, and the Quincy Bayview Bridge at West Quincy is restricted to one-way traffic and vehicles shorter than 12.5 feet.
* July 1 ‹ Hannibal police and firefighters begin knocking on doors on South Main Street about 4 a.m. to warn residents to move out because of rapidly rising water.
* July 1 ‹ Water rises to within 15 inches of the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge approach at East Hannibal.
* July 1 ‹ A levee bursts near Alexandria, flooding hundreds of acres of farm land.
* July 1 ‹ U.S. 36 between Clarence and Shelbina is closed for several hours after heavy rain. An astonishing 8 inches of rain fell in some areas.
* July 1 ‹ Portions of Route 79 are closed south of Hannibal and in Pike County.
* July 1 ‹ Clear Creek, near Route 168 north of Hannibal, is sandbagged.
* July 1 ‹ LaGrange residents are evacuated as the town's Main Street is flooded, passable only by boat.
* July 1 ‹ Businesses close to the bridges in West Quincy are evacuated.
* July 1 ‹ Workers at American Cyanamid are called in at 3 a.m. to construct a levee over Route JJ leading into the plant.
* July 1 ‹ About a dozen homes lose their power overnight because of fallen tree limbs hitting wires.
* July 2 ‹The Mark Twain Memorial Bridge is closed because of water standing on the Illinois approach to the bridge.
* July 2 ‹ The city power supply is threatened by high water, officials warn.
* July 2 ‹ The former Hannibal Regional Hospital opens as a Red Cross Shelter.
* July 2 ‹ Hannibal businesses saved by the newly built flood wall anticipate a low turnout at Fourth of July festivities because of road and bridge closings.
* July 3 ‹ The National Guard is called in to help LaGrange with sandbagging efforts.
* July 3 ‹ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends businesses in West Quincy evacuate.
* July 3 ‹ Tom Sawyer Days activities suffer a significant decrease in crowds because of the flood.
* July 3 ‹ More than 25 bulldozers shore up the Sny levee all weekend in Pike County, Ill.
* July 4 ‹ The Winfield levee bursts, flooding thousands of acres. More than 100 people are evacuated between Elsberry and Winfield.
* July 4 ‹ President Clinton says he will seek $1.2 billion in flood aid for Midwest flood victims.
* July 4 ‹ Gov. Mel Carnahan says he activated 30 soldiers with the 2175th Military Police Company of Hannibal to serve in Hannibal and Clarksville. Soldiers are also sent to Clark County to help with levee efforts.
* July 6 ‹ A 31-foot crest is predicted at Hannibal.
* July 6 ‹ Gov. Mel Carnahan tours the flood-ravaged Hannibal area, and pledges to ask President Clinton for a national disaster declaration.
* July 6 ‹ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts levees north of Hannibal will break.
* July 6 ‹ Flood waters top the Elsberry levee.
* July 6 ‹ The Annada levee breaks.
* July 6 ‹ Soybean prices rise to an average of $7 per bushel, up $1 per bushel from the preceding month.
* July 7 ‹ Residents of Alexandria, Canton, Louisiana and Clarksville are warned to get out of their homes.
* July 7 ‹ Hannibal business losses are predicted to reach into the millions.
* July 8 ‹ Hannibal adds wood, clay and sand to the top of its levee, adding two more feet to its height.
* July 9 ‹ River pressure presumably causes Hannibal's marina to rip away from its moorings, causing severe damage to boats and the dock.
* July 9 ‹ A levee breaks at Meyer, Ill., in the Lima Lakes Drainage District.
* July 9 ‹ The Sterling Harbor levee between Foley and Elsberry breaks, and the levee at Mark Bottoms between Palmyra and West Quincy fails.
* July 10 ‹ President Clinton declares flooded areas of Missouri a national disaster, including all counties in the Courier-Post readership area.
* July 10 ‹ Heavy rains are predicted ‹ up to 2 inches in some areas.
* July 12 ‹ The Indian Grave levee north of Quincy, Ill., shatters, flooding 8,000 acres.
* July 13 ‹ A wall at the Hannibal Public Schools' bus barn caves in, as does a portion of the neighboring Display Center business. Flood waters had weakened the structures, officials said.
* July 13 ‹ Hannibal tourist businesses report revenue losses of up to 75 percent because crowds discouraged from visiting stay away because of the flood.
* July 13 ‹ The disaster application centers open at the former Hannibal Regional Hospital and in Elsberry and Winfield.
* July 14 ‹ The South River Drainage District levee fails, cutting off the American Cyanamid plant north of Hannibal.
* July 14 ‹ Mark Twain Lake is 25 feet above normal. The flood control reservoir covers almost twice the area it usually does.
* July 16 ‹ The river begins to crest in Hannibal at 31.3 feet.
Sandbaggers under the Third Street viaduct, whose bags were being sent to West Quincy, Canton and across the river to the Sny levee, are sent home for rest because enough bags have been made.
* July 16 ‹ The levee at West Quincy ruptures and causes an explosion and fire at a nearby convenience store. The break means the only bridge to Illinois within 100 miles was closed, causing thousands of commuters to find other ways to work. The levee had protected 14,000 acres of land. The loss of the bridge has a devastating affect on the economies of both Hannibal and Quincy.
* July 19 ‹ A bridge at Keokuk, Iowa, reopens, allowing commuters a shorter trip between Illinois and Missouri.
* July 19 ‹ After the West Quincy levee break, the river dropped sharply at Hannibal. Now, though, it rises again again to 30.7 feet.
* July 19 ‹ An Army Corps officials says the Hannibal flood levee has prevented $14.5 million in damages.
* July 20 ‹ Aid from across the United States begins to arrive in Hannibal.
* July 21 ‹ The Disaster Application (One-Stop) Center in Hannibal extends its stay to July 22 because of local demand, after orginally planning to leave July 20.
* July 22 ‹ Officials at the Fabius River Drainage District ask for a law enforcement investigation into an alleged sabotage of the West Quincy levee.
* July 22- Rumor of a sabotage attempt at the Sny levee near Clarksville proves false.
* July 22 ‹ The Hannibal Salvation Army remains busy receiving and distributing flood aid goods.
* July 24 ‹ A storm dumps 1.3 inches of rain in Hannibal.
* July 24 ‹ Suspects continue to be questioned about the alleged sabotage of the West Quincy levee.
* July 25 ‹ A break in the Sny levee, the second-largest in the nation, near East Hannibal causes about 45,000 acres to flood and threatens a total of 110,000 acres. A total of 700 people flee from their homes in East Hannibal, Hull, Seehorn and Fall Creek. Four levee workers trapped in a tree and on top of a tractor are rescued by helicopter. Highways leading to Quincy, Ill., are closed and traffic is detoured away from the Central Illinois Expressway.
* July 27 ‹ Water stands 8 feet deep in parts of Hull, as the entire town is under water.
* July 29 ‹ Gov. Carnahan announces two 45-passenger pontoon boats will transport people across the Mississippi River from Taylor to the west end of the Cape Fair Bridge in Quincy, a move that helps to ease the transportation crisis.
* July 29 ‹ Gov. Carnahan announces that all area counties, and 113 counties in the state, are eligible for low-interest agriculture loans because of the flood.