The Mighty Missouri

Spring came to the Midwest last week and with it the rush of rising waters. As heavy snow packs in the Dakotas melted in the warming weather, the Missouri and a score of lesser rivers swelled in floods that threatened to be the worst in valley history.

Running as much as ten feet over flood stage, and ten miles wide in stretches, the muddy Missouri surged through the Dakotas, Iowa and Nebraska, leaving thousands homeless, more than 1,000,000 acres of farm land inundated, millions of dollars in damage. Whole sections of Pierre, S. Dak. were swamped as the river crashed through the flood walls. Power went out, and with it the city's pumping system, leaving a shortage of drinking water.

Downstream, Sioux City, Iowa and South Sioux City, Neb. were almost isolated by the floods. With only one road out of town still open and water in the streets rising near the second-story mark, South Sioux City all but gave up the fight. Mayor Wilbur Allen urged the entire population (5,557) to evacuate, keeping only the top floors of the high school open as a refugee center.

While awaiting the river's assault, the more populous Omaha-Council Bluffs area worked feverishly to strengthen flood walls, assisted by thousands of Army troops, National Guardsmen and Army Engineers. A two-foot "flashboard" was being added to the 31 1/2-ft. levee and flood wall at Omaha. But its value was as much psychological as physical. Few expected the levee to withstand the pressure of a predicted 31 1/2-ft. flood crest. After inspecting the inadequate dikes and flood walls, Brigadier General Don G. Shingler, Missouri River Division Engineer, remarked gloomily: "The Missouri is coming with a rip and a roar. We're in a hell of a lot of trouble."

Many people weren't waiting to find out. This week, as the flood crest swelled downstream, scores of smaller communities were virtual ghost towns as residents evacuated their homes, leaving only armed rowboat patrols behind to guard against looters.

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