Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 - Costs and Damage

Costs and Damage

Some locations on the Mississippi River flooded for almost 200 days, while various locations on the Missouri neared 100 days of flooding. On the Mississippi, Grafton, Illinois, recorded flooding for 195 days, Clarksville, Missouri, for 187 days, Winfield, Missouri, for 183 days, Hannibal, Missouri, for 174 days, and Quincy, Illinois, for 152 days. The Missouri River was above flood stage for 62 days in Jefferson City, Missouri, 77 days at Hermann, Missouri, and for 94 days at St. Charles in the St. Louis metropolitan area. On October 7, 103 days after the flooding began, the Mississippi River at St. Louis finally dropped below flood stage. Approximately 100,000 homes were destroyed as a result of the flooding, 15 million acres (60,000 km²) of farmland inundated, and the whole towns of Valmeyer, Illinois, and Rhineland, Missouri, were relocated to higher ground. The floods cost thirty two lives officially; however, a more likely target is suspected to be around fifty people, as well as an estimated 15–20 billion dollars in damages. Even after the water was gone, billions of pounds of sand covered homes and farms.