1952 – April, Red River of North Upper Mississippi-Missouri River basins flooding — 11

–11 EDS, NOAA. Climatological Data National Summary, V22, N13, Annual 1971, p. 792.
–11 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 81.

Minnesota (1)
–1 St. Paul, Apr 16. Drowning; boat rowed by volunteer fireman capsizes; Mrs. Rosemary Mohr, 28.

North Dakota (1)
–1 Bismarck area, Apr 6. Drowning; swollen Cannonball River; Poplar, Montana man.

Wisconsin (1)
–1 La Crosse. Drowning, Mississippi River; fall from railroad trestle; Mrs. John Billings, 65.

Narrative Information

Environmental Data Service, NOAA: “April 1952…Red River of the North-upper Mississippi-Missouri River basins…11 [lives lost]…$198,000 [Property damage.]”

Nebraska Department of Natural Resources: “The Missouri has the largest upstream drainage basin of any river in Nebraska (414,400 mi.2 at Nebraska City), so it has proven capable of thwarting almost every attempt to control it. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completed six large reservoirs along the “main-stem” of the Missouri in order to try to
control floods and provide other benefits….

“The flood of April, 1952, still stands as the flood-of-record for the Missouri at Omaha. On April 16, the river’s discharge was 396,000 cubic feet/second (177,724,800 gallons per minute) with a record stage of 40.2 feet (flood stage at Omaha is 29 feet). The first flood warnings were issued on April 7 from Niobrara to Rulo, a sign of the severity of the impending flood. By the 13th, all 5,557 residents of South Sioux City were urged to evacuate by the mayor as dikes protecting the city had failed days earlier and a third of the city was flooded to a depth of eight feet. Evacuation orders were commonplace: all 622 residents of Dakota City, 30,000 in Council Bluffs, 40,000 from Carter Lake and East Omaha, and numerous other places up and down the river. 75 homes
were flooded in Niobrara; Homer and La Platte were virtually abandoned; Blair set a record crest of 23.15 feet (flood stage is 18.0 feet); the flow reached 400,000 cfs at Plattsmouth; 20 families were rescued in Bellevue; the stage of 27.66 feet and record discharge of 414,000 cfs meant that the flood exceeded the 500-year level at Nebraska City; and families were evacuated in Rulo. President Truman personally visited the scene of the flooding in Omaha and officially declared it a disaster area. Although the crest passed Omaha without causing a floodwall breach, other places were not as fortunate. South Sioux City damage estimates alone were $2.5 million, and $1 1.9 million was the Corps of Engineers’ preliminary estimate for the entire flood. It is doubtful,
however, that this estimate takes into consideration all aspects of flood damage such as infrastructure, agriculture, business interruption, and other direct losses. 180,000 agricultural acres were inundated, and of the 1,400 houses inundated in the flood, 681 were farmsteads. In urban areas, 2,100 homes were evacuated, totaling 13,000 displaced people (not including Omaha). 1.4 million manhours were worked to fight the flood….” (Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Historic Floods of the Missouri River: Fighting the Big Muddy in Nebraska. 10-29-2008.)

United States Geological Survey Water Supply Paper abstract:
“The floods of April 1952 in the Milk River basin, along the Missouri River from the mouth of the Little Missouri River to the mouth of the Kansas River, and for scattered tributaries of the Missouri River in North and South Dakota were the greatest ever observed. The damage amounted to an estimated $179 million. The outstanding featur6 of the floods was the extraordinary peak discharge generated in the Missouri River at and downstream from Bismarck, N. Dak., on April 6 when a large ice jam upstream from the city was suddenly released. Inflow from flooding tributaries maintained the peak discharge at approximately the same magnitude in the transit of the flood across South Dakota; downstream from Yankton, S. Dak., attenuation of the peak discharge was continuous because of natural storage in the wide flood plains. The outstanding characteristic of floods in the Milk River basin was their duration–the flood crested at Havre, Mont., on April 3 and at Nashua, Mont.. on April 18. The floods were caused by an abnormally heavy accumulation of snow that was converted into runoff in a few days of very warm weather at the end of March. The heaviest water content of the snow pack at breakup was in a narrow arc extending through Aberdeen, S. Dak., Pierre, S. Dak.. and northwestward toward the southwest corner of North Dakota. The water content in part of this concentrated cover exceeded 6 inches. The winter of 1951-52, which followed a wet cold fall that made the ground impervious, was one of the most severe ever experienced in South Dakota and northern Montana. Depths of snow and low temperatures combined to produce, at the end of March, one of the heaviest snow covers in the history of the Great Plains. The Missouri River ice was intact upstream from Chamberlain, S. Dak., at the end of March, and the breakup of the ice with inflow of local runoff was one of the spectacular features of the flood. Runoff from the Yellowstone River combining with the flood pouring from the Little Missouri River caused the Missouri River to crest at an all-time high at Elbowoods, N. Dak., on April 4. As this crest moved downstream to Bismarck, its intensity was increased by the alternate storing and release of ice jams plus the inflow from the Knife River. The crest discharge of 500,000 cfs came at Bismarck at 6 p. m. on April 6. following a very sharp rise from 80,000 cfs at 11 a.m. Overflow occurred along the Missouri River from Elbowoods to the mouth with high damage to cities. farmland, and installations located in the flood plain. Cleanup and repair operations following the flood continued for many weeks. Few of the flooded farms produced a crop during 1952. This report presents detailed records of stage and discharge for the flood period on the Missouri River and tributaries from Fort Peck. Mont., to the mouth. Information on damages and river stages collected by other agencies is also presented.”

Sources

Environmental Data Service, NOAA. “Losses In Individual Severe Floods in the United States Since July 1902.” Climatological Data National Summary, Vol. 22, No. 13, Annual 1971. Asheville, NC: EDS/NOAA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 1972, pp. 791-792. Accessed 6-9-2023 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Climatological_Data_National_Summary/m_gG1xDxctMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Climatological+Data+National+Summary%22+december+%221955%22&pg=PA792&printsec=frontcover

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Historic Floods of the Missouri River: Fighting the Big Muddy in Nebraska. 10-29-2008. Accessed 6-9-2023 at: https://semspub.epa.gov/work/07/30022840.pdf

United Press. “Flood Crest Crisis Nears Omaha Area.” Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. 4-18-1952, pp. 1 and 3. Accessed 6-9-2023 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/madison-wisconsin-state-journal-apr-18-1952-p-1/

USGS/J. V. B. Wells. Floods of April 1952 in the Missouri River basin (Water Supply Paper 1260-B). Washington, DC: U.S Government Printing Office, 1955, 264 pages. Accessed 6-9-2023 at: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wsp1260B