Chapter 16 Summary

According to estimates, several hundred people drown as the floodwaters rage through the countryside, though an exact accounting is never compiled. The crevasse at Mounds Landing is immense and quickly widens to three-quarters of a mile. The crevasse releases 468,000 cfs, more than twice the volume of Niagara Falls in flood. Within ten days, one million acres are underneath 10 feet of water.

The Mounds Landing crevasse is the largest single crevasse ever to occur anywhere on the Mississippi River. It floods an area 50 miles by 100 miles with up to 20 feet of water. Over 185,000 people are displaced by the flood. Nearly 70,000 of them will live in refugee camps, some as long as five months. The Red Cross feeds over 87,000 additional people outside of the refugee camps. Over 30,000 others leave the Delta area. Many more crevasses will open, devastating regions further south. In general, throughout the...