The Great Flood of 1993

Throughout the months leading up to the summer of 1993, the weather in Dubuque, IA and Iowa in general started to prepare the land for something big. A cold growing season in 1992, an abnormally wet fall, a very snowy and cold winter, and heavy spring rainfall all created a recipe for disaster.

The Mississippi began to flood in April and exceeded the flood stage set at 17 feet on the 16th, but the worst was yet to come since it didn’t peak until July. In Dubuque, the peak was at 23.84 feet on July 1, which was almost seven feet over the flood stage. This height was only three feet shy of beating the record set during the 1965 flood which clocked in at 26.81 feet. This flood lasted for 102 days, 52 of which were spent over the flood stage.

Flooding in Downtown Davenport, IA on July 2, 1993.

This flood was disastrous for not only Dubuque, but the midwest in general. There were 17 fatalities and an estimated $3-7 billion dollars in damage, $2 billion dollars in crop loss alone. In Iowa, almost 23,000 homes were damaged and 10,000 people had to be evacuated. There was also a huge impact on the farming industry due to this flooding period. Citizens saw an agricultural drop of nearly 62%. The amount of sedimentary transport also increased over nine months due to field erosion. There was 6.7 million tons (6.1 million metric tons) at Dubuque. President Bill Clinton even declared a major disaster in all 99 counties. Dubuque finally went below the flood stage and stayed there on July 27. The overall flood eventually ended on October 10, 1993 when the Iowa River finally dropped within normal levels.

There are flood mitigation efforts happening still today, one being the 16th Street Detention Basin.

The new 16th Street Detention Basin plan in Dubuque, IA.

This gate replacement project will help prevent water from flowing into the Mississippi River during a flood. The twin 12-foot by 12-foot flood mitigation gates will remain open during normal weather and close during flooding to protect the Bee Branch Watershed.



Sources:
Ervin, H. (2018, July 27). The 'Great Flood Of 1993' Crested 25 Years Ago This Week. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.waterwaysjournal.net/2018/07/27/the-great-flood-of-1993-crested-25-years-ago-this-week/
Flood Mitigation Gate Replacement. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from  https://www.cityofdubuque.org/1817/Flood-Mitigation-Gate-Replacement
McConkey, S., Allan, K., & Pollock, B. (n.d.). 1993 Mississippi River Record Stages and Levee Failures along the Illinois Border. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.isws.illinois.edu/pubdoc/MP/ISWSMP-163.pdf
The Floods of 1993: Iowa Floods Disaster Report. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/documents/misc/HSEMD_AAR_1993_Floods.pdf
Theiling, C. (n.d.). The Flood of 1993. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.umesc.usgs.gov/documents/reports/1999/status_and_trends/99t001_ch15lr.pdf
US Department of Commerce, & NOAA. (2018, October 23). Flooding in Iowa. Retrieved from https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-states-ia