1943 — Apr–June, Floods, Midwest River Basin, AR, IA, IL, IN, MI, MO, NE, OH, OK, TN–60
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-14-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
EDS, Rivers: Arkansas, Illinois, Maumee, Miss., Missouri, Upper Michigan, Osage, Wabash, White.
–60 Apr-Jun Environmental Data Service. “Losses in Individual Severe Floods in the [US],” p791.
–60 Apr-Jun Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, 81.
–34 May New Castle News. “Thousands…Army…Aided…Rescue,” 5-28-1943.
–29 Blanchard tally from State breakouts below (just what we located; accept EDS, NOAA).
–21 May Valley Morning Star (Harlingen TX). “Floods Halt War Factory,” 5-27-1943, p. 1.
–12 May Time. “Floods,” May 31, 1943.
Arkansas ( 3)
–3 UP. “Water Supply At Fort Smith Cut Off As Flood Breaks Line.” Blytheville Courier News, AR, 5-12-1943, 1.
–1 Blytheville area. Drowning; baby fell into tub of rain water.
–1 Blytheville area. Drowning; “youth.”
–1 England area. Drowning, girl, 6.
Illinois ( 3)
–2 AP. “Two More Deaths…Attributed to Flood Conditions in State.” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL. 5-25-1943, 1
–1 Eldrid area, May 22. Drowning; Richard Curtis, 14, fell into flood water from a levee.[1]
–1 Mt. Auburn area, Christian county, Sangamon river overflow. May 18. Marvin Blankenchip, 19.[2]
–1 Petersburg, May 23. Run over by RR work car while on flood guard duty; Frank Woods, 45.[3]
Indiana (12)
–12 Blanchard tally based on locality breakouts below.
–10 UP. “Flood Moves to ‘Father of Rivers’ – No Crest In Sight.” Linton Daily Citizen, IN 5-24-1943, 1.
— 6 Wisconsin State Journal (Madison). “Flood Traps 100 Families,” May 23, 1943, p. 16.
— 5 UP. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, 1.
— 1 Bluffton, Wabash River, by May 19. Drowning; Charles Joseph, 13.[4]
— 1 Bristol, St. Joseph River, June 4. Drowning; Gene Moran, 10.[5]
— 1 Clinton, Brouilletts Creek, by May 19. Drowning; Betty Cole, 13.[6]
— 1 Danville, by May 19. Drowning; Mrs. Edna Cain, 56, in stream near her home.[7]
— 1 Elkhart area, Elkhart River, June 6. Drowning; Lewis Bans, 17.[8]
— 4 Ohio River, May 22. Small boat overturned.[9]
— 1 Sparksville, May 7. Drowning in Luedeke ditch at White River; Albert Cox, 4.[10]
— 1 Vincennes, Embarrass River, by May 19. Drowning; Eldon Headrick, 13.[11]
— 1 White River near Muncie by May 19. Drowning; Robert E. Bohlinger, 17.[12]
Iowa ( 4)
–1 Davenport area, May 19. Drowning; Ronnie Kelleher, 12.[13]
–1 Decorah, Upper Iowa River, May 29. Drowning[14]; John A. Swehla Jr., 13.
–1 Des Moines, Riverview Park lagoon, May 29. Drowning; Gonzales J. Valles, 19.[15]
–1 La Porte City Jun 27 Waterloo Daily Courier (IA). “Swigert Drowning,” June 30, 1943.
Missouri ( 3)
–3 AP. “Thousands driven from…homes…Midwest floods.” Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. 5-19-1943, 1
Nebraska ( 1)
— 1 Omaha Nebraska DNR. Historic Floods on the Missouri River.
Tennessee ( 2)
–2 Associated Press. “Two Drown In Flood Waters.” Camden News, AR. 6-4-1943, p. 4.
–1 Dyersburg. Drowning; improvised raft capsized; Bobby Jeff Rundles, 12.
–1 Memphis area farm. Drowning; small evacuation boat overturns; J. E. Anderson.
Wisconsin ( 1)
–1 Sparta, Little Beaver Creek, May 31. House Trailer swept away in flash flood. Harry Nickols.[16]
General
Baldwin: “Warm weather the last part of March and in April rapidly melted a deep snow cover on the frozen ground of the Northern Plains resulting in destructive floods in the Missouri Valley. Heavy rains in May resulted in floods affecting 7 States from Oklahoma to Michigan that caused extensive damage to agricultural and industrial areas. In parts of the Arkansas and Osage Rivers the floods were the greatest in 100 years, with near-record stages reached in the middle Mississippi, Illinois, Wabash, and Maumee Rivers.” (Baldwin. “The Weather of 1943 in the U.S.,” Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1943, 198.)
Environmental Data Service, NOAA. “Losses in Individual Severe Floods in the [US]:
“Apr.-June 1943…Maumee, Wabash, upper Mississippi, Missouri, White, and Arkansas River basins…60 [deaths]…172,500 [property losses in thousands of dollars].”
Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study: “In 1943, floods in the Midwest were unusually severe. America was at war and flood waters impeded the military effort:
- Manufacture and transportation of war materials were halted due to flooded factories, highways and railroads
- Omaha’s airport – a vital transportation link – was under water
- Flooded farm fields meant delayed planting and smaller harvests
The 1943 floods emphasized the need for flood control measures that were then incorporated into the Flood Control Act of 1944.” (Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study. “Authorized Purpose – Flood Control.”)
Skilling: “In late spring and early summer of 1943 much of the Midwest was besieged by repeat
bouts of heavy rainfall. Major flooding followed on many of the region’s rivers including
the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois and Wabash, leaving hundreds of
thousands of acres of farmland under water. Some of the worst conditions were in the
St. Louis area near the confluence of the flood-swollen Missouri and Mississippi rivers,
where thousands of people were stranded. Precipitation totals were impressive. In June,
1943 St. Joseph, Missouri was swamped by nearly 16 inches of rain while nearby
Maryville received nearly 13.5 inches.” (Skilling. “Summer of 1943 Midwest Flooding,” WGN Weather Center Blog, Aug 21, 2008)
Time: “For two weeks, over many miles of the U.S., there had been almost ceaseless rain. (In Chicago, 16 days out of May’s first 19 dripped.) The monstrously gorged rivers—the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Wabash, Osage, White, many others—roared like millraces, rose until they overspread their banks and engulfed the land. From Illinois and Indiana south to Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, hundreds of thousands of acres seeded with the food the world is waiting for lay under water. Swirling chaos enveloped many a valley town and city. In Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas, tornadoes added to the havoc.
“Everywhere civilian-defense organizations had prepared for disaster in the form of enemy air raids. Now they met the flood emergency quickly and efficiently. The death toll was small: at week’s end only twelve fatalities had been reported by the American Red Cross. But if deaths were few, discomfort was everywhere, and destruction so widespread that the Berlin radio reported the news in high glee.
“Flooded Farms. The floods meant delayed planting this year, probably smaller harvests. Farmers who already had corn seed in faced the necessity for replanting: seed had either washed away or been rotted by too much moisture. In cities and towns, many a Victory gardener found his garden ruined. The American Red Cross estimated that more than 1,350,000 acres of land were inundated.
“Flooded Factories. High water on highways and railroads meant delay in production of many war materials, delay in shipping goods already produced. Logansport, Ind. has five plants with war contracts; all had to be shut down. Four war plants in the St. Louis area, including Atlas Powder Co.’s great TNT plant, were closed either because incoming raw materials did not arrive or because water entered the buildings. In Arkansas the Big Inch broke, reducing the East’s oil supplies even more (see p. 18). At Dupo, Ill., near St. Louis, one of the nation’s largest freight yards (8,000 cars move there daily) was under water. Production was halted at a huge caterpillar tractor works in Peoria, Ill.
“Flooded Families. Refugees huddled in emergency stations set up by the Red Cross or other relief organizations all over the Midwest. Some 30,000 families (100,000 people) were homeless at week’s end, the Red Cross estimated; 9,663 houses had been destroyed or damaged. The entire population of Dupo—2,073—had to be evacuated by Coast Guardsmen. Women, children and aged were taken from Beardstown, Ill.
“The rampaging Missouri River leaped cross-country to join the Mississippi six miles below St. Charles, Mo. The confluence of the two rivers is usually 28 miles below St. Charles. In the triangle thus created, 1,000 people were stranded.
“In many areas U.S. soldiers, summoned from training stations, labored for sleepless days & nights to rescue those marooned by flood. Other soldiers (7,000 in the Little Rock, Ark. area alone) toted sandbags in efforts, mostly futile, to strengthen levees. The presence of Axis war prisoners in Missouri was disclosed officially for the first time when gangs of men with great white initials “P.W.” stenciled on the backs of their jackets and on their trouser legs, turned up to work on a levee near St. Genevieve….” (Time Magazine. “Floods,” May 31, 1943.)
War Dept. Board of Engineers: “In March, May, and June of 1943 very severe floods occurred which overtopped or caused failure of nearly all the levees on the Missouri River below Sioux City. The division engineer estimates the damages of these three floods along the main stem below Sioux City at $35,000,000. Under general provisions of the Flood Control Act of 1941 and the act for emergency flood control work approved July 12, 1943, the Department spent $800,000 for rescue and emergency work and is now assisting local interests in restoring their levees to afford the original degree of protection which is estimated to cost $1,800,000.” (U.S. War Dept. Report of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, Aug 23, 1943.)
Newspapers (general)
May 27: “Flood peaks moved downstream on the Illinois and Mississippi river Thursday but river levels remained high enough to flood a half dozen Illinois and Missouri communities and threaten at least two major industrial plants. Production of explosives for mines was stopped Thursday at the Atlas Powder Co., Wolf Lake, Ill., after th e Mississippi flood waters, rising more than a foot an hour, rushed past sandbag barricades and into the company’ s buildings. Martial law was invoked Wednesday in the town, 100 miles south of St. Louis, as the waters entirely submerged the town and spread toward the 2,000-acre plant, normally three miles inland from the river.
“A few miles to the north, dwindling food supplies prompted Mayor C. D. Gardiner to urge the inhabitants of Grand Tower, Ill, to leave the city, already 80 per cent under water. Coastguardsmen reported that the $9,000,000 Central Illinois Public Service plant, which generates electrical power for Southern Illinois, was in “critical” danger.
“After inspecting the flood area in an army bomber, Joseph Laitin, United Press staff correspondent, reported that the Mississippi valley bottomland had become “an area of devastation.” Houses, barns and trees were barely visible over sheets of water as much as seven miles wide, he said.
“At St. Louis, officials of six states were in emergency conference to discuss rehabilitation and
reseeding of 3,000,000 acres of farmland flooded in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
“Flood danger in northern cities was reported lessening. At Peoria, on the Illinois river, officials of the Caterpillar tractor plant cut in half the 12,000 man force manning the levee which guards the giant war factory….” (Racine Journal-Times. “Flood Reaches IL Plant, Stops Production of Explosives,” 5-27-1943.)
May 27: “During May muddy waters have submerged 3,926,000 acres of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Indiana routed 160,000 persons and caused 21 deaths in the worst floods in the midlands since 1937, when the Ohio and Mississippi Valley disaster made more than 1,000,000 homeless and took 466 lives.” (Valley Morning Star (Harlingen TX). “Floods Halt War Factory,” May 27, 1943, p. 1.)
May 28: “Washington, May 28. – The war department announced Thursday that 37,895 troops were diverted from combat training to rescue an estimated 51,430 persons from the Mississippi valley flood areas. ‘Although surveys indicate that a total of 34 lives have been lost, some 51,430 persons were evacuated, primarily by troops,’ the war department said. ‘Additional thousands were rescued by the Red Cross and associated organizations’.” (New Castle News, PA “Reveal Thousands of Army Trainees Aided Flood Rescue,” 5-28-1943, p. 5.)
Illinois
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Central IL: “Many rivers in central Illinois were affected by record flooding during May of 1943. On the Sangamon River, a record crest of 31.52 feet occurred at Riverton on this date [May 19]. Downstream, a stage of 33.9 feet at Petersburg on the 20th resulted in large sections of the town being flooded.” (NWS Weather Forecast Office, Central IL. “May Weather Trivia for Illinois.”)
May 25, AP: “Springfield, Ill., May 25. – (AP) – Two more deaths were attributed to flood conditions in Illinois over the week-end. Marvin Blankenchip, 19-year-old farm hand, drowned in flood waters of the Sangamon river near Mt. Auburn, in Christian county. His body was found yesterday, but Leo Lang, a farmer who was marooned by high water near the scene, said he saw the youth drown last Tuesday and that he had no means of going to his aid or reporting the accident. Lang said Blankenchip, a navy enlistee, apparently stepped into water over his head while wading across a flooded section of the farm of Richard Dowell, where he formerly was employed.
“Frank Woods, 45, who had been on flood duty for three days without rest at Petersburg, was fatally injured yesterday when he fell asleep on a railroad track while guarding a boat landing. He was struck by a work car being used by a crew repairing tracks of the Chicago and Illinois Midland railroad.” (Associated Press. “Two More Deaths Are Attributed To Flood Conditions in State.” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL. 5-24-1943, p. 1.)
Nebraska
“Another major flood occurred in April, 1943. Snow accumulations up to two feet melted rapidly with the arrival of sudden warm weather. This snowmelt emptied into the Missouri River all at once which, at the peak of flooding, spanned 15 miles between Decatur, Nebraska, and Onawa, Iowa. At Omaha, the river crested at 22.45 feet and had a discharge of 200,000 cubic feet/second (89,760,000 gallons/minute). 3000 men helped fight the flood, but after a week, the River found a weak spot in the temporary dike and the battle was lost. 100 homes were flooded when the floodwater also breached a new dike at Locust Street. The industrial section on Grace Street was flooded, and businesses were closed several days. 1000 people were evacuated from Carter Lake and East Omaha as the old Lake Florence bed filled and inundated the airport with seven feet of water in 18 hours. One person was killed in Omaha and the damage estimate there was $1.4 million. At Tekamah, water filled the then-dry Lake Quinnebaugh. Downstream, dikes at Pacific Junction and Hamburg held, but the dike at Peru failed.” (Nebraska DNR. Historic Floods on the Missouri River.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Damage Heavy In Flash Flood At Sparta, Wis.,” The Muscatine Journal, IA. 5-31-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/muscatine-journal-and-news-tribune-may-31-1943-p-1/
Associated Press. “Five Drownings Are Reported Over Week-End.” The Muscatine Journal, IA. 5-31-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/muscatine-journal-and-news-tribune-may-31-1943-p-1/
Associated Press. “Search For Bodies Of Drowning Victims.” The Washington Herald, IN. 6-7-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/washington-herald-jun-07-1943-p-1/
Associated Press. “Thousands Driven From Their Homes by Midwest Floods.” Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. 5-19-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/dixon-evening-telegraph-may-19-1943-p-1/
Associated Press. “Two Drown In Flood Waters.” Camden News, AR. 6-4-1943, p. 4. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/camden-news-jun-04-1943-p-4/
Associated Press. “Two More Deaths Are Attributed To Flood Conditions in State.” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL. 5-24-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/freeport-journal-standard-may-24-1943-p-1/
Baldwin, J.L. (Weather Bureau, Washington DC). “The Weather of 1943 in the U.S.,” Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1943, pp. 198-200. Accessed at: http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/071/mwr-071-12-0198.pdf
Environmental Data Service, NOAA. “Losses in Individual Severe Floods in the United States since July 1902.” Climatological Data National Summary (Annual) Vol. 22. No. 13, 1971. Accessed 4-26-2023 at:
Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.
Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study. “Authorized Purpose – Flood Control.” Accessed at: http://www.mraps.org/exhibit/authorized-purpose-flood-control
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Central Illinois. May Weather Trivia for Illinois. Lincoln, IL. NWS, Feb 21, 2008. At: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/trivia/maytriv.php
Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Historic Floods on the Missouri River. Accessed at:
http://www.dnr.state.ne.us/floodplain/mitigation/mofloods.html
New Castle News, PA “Reveal Thousands of Army Trainees Aided Flood Rescue,” 5-28-1943, p. 5. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-castle-news-may-28-1943-p-5/
Racine Journal-Times, WI. “Flood Reaches Illinois Plant, Stops Production of Explosives,” May 27, 1943, 8. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=142258373
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO. “Flood Situation Still Critical in Five-State Area.” 5-24-1943, p. 3. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://www.newspapers.com/image/139085753/?clipping_id=7334180&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjEzOTA4NTc1MywiaWF0IjoxNzE1NjM3NTE2LCJleHAiOjE3MTU3MjM5MTZ9.-3ZG6UkoP_fmllSwIsNqORiWC3m39-BMOdMJOHgs80Q&terms=deaths&match=1
Seymour Daily Tribune, IN. “Drowning Inquest Being Held Today.” 5-18-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/seymour-daily-tribune-may-18-1943-p-1/
Skilling, Tom. “Summer of 1943 Midwest Flooding,” WGN Weather Center Blog, 8-21-2008. Accessed art: http://weblogs.wgntv.com/chicago-weather/tom-skilling-blog/2008/08/summer-of-1943-midwest-floodin.html
Time. “Floods,” May 31, 1943. At: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851697,00.html
United Press. “Flood Moves to ‘Father of Rivers’ – No Crest In Sight.” Linton Daily Citizen, IN 5-24-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/linton-daily-citizen-may-24-1943-p-1/
United Press. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” The Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024: https://newspaperarchive.com/hammond-times-may-19-1943-p-49/
United Press. “Water Supply At Fort Smith Cut Off As Flood Breaks Line.” Blytheville Courier News, AR, 5-12-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-13-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/blytheville-courier-news-may-12-1943-p-1/
United States War Department. Report of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, Aug 23, 1943, pp. 14-18 in Missouri River Basis; Letter from the Secretary of War… (House Doc. No. 475, 78th Congress, 2d Session). Washington, DC: GPO, 1944. Accessed at: http://www.mraps.org/sites/default/files/documents/1944_HD475_MoRiverBasin–Pick%20Plan.pdf
Also accessed 5-18-2024 at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=9DMt9n-MuS4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Valley Morning Star, Harlingen TX. “Floods Halt War Factory,” May 27, 1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=16343249
Waterloo Daily Courier, IA. “Swigert Drowning,” June 30, 1943. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=87088908
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “Flood Traps 100 Families,” May 23, 1943, p. 16. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=99954420
Related
Illinois Department of Public Works and Buildings and United States Geological Survey. The Floods of May 1943 in Illinois. Accessed 5-13-2024 at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/unnumbered/70170437/report.pdf
Short, John August. Floods of May 1943 in Missouri. Professional; Degree Theses. Missouri S&T Library and Learning Resources. 1944. Accessed 5-14-2024 at: https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1248&context=professional_theses
United States War Department Corps of Engineers, Portland District. The Boise River Flood: April, May and June 1943 – August 1943.
United States Weather Bureau. “Flood-Stage Report for April 1943,” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 71, Issue 5, 1943, pp. 55-56. Accessed 5-14-2024 at: https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/71/4/1520-0493_1943_71_55_frfa_2_0_co_2.xml?rskey=3jLE4x&result=3
United States Weather Bureau. “Flood-Stage Report for May 1943,” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 71, Issue 6, June 1943, p. 73. Accessed 5-14-2024 at: https://journals.ametsoc.org/search?source=%2Fjournals%2Fmwre%2Fmwre-overview.xml&q=May+1943&searchBtn=
[1] St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO. “Flood Situation Still Critical in Five-State Area.” 5-24-1943, p. 3.
[2] AP. “Two More Deaths…Attributed To Flood Conditions in State.” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL. 5-24-1943, p1.
[3] AP. “Two More Deaths…Attributed To Flood Conditions in State.” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL. 5-24-1943, p1.
[4] United Press. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, 1.
[5] Associated Press. “Search For Bodies Of Drowning Victims.” The Washington Herald, IN. 6-7-1943, p. 1.
[6] United Press. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, 1.
[7] United Press. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, 1.
[8] Associated Press. “Search For Bodies Of Drowning Victims.” The Washington Herald, IN. 6-7-1943, p. 1.
[9] United Press. “Flood Moves to ‘Father of Rivers’ – No Crest In Sight.” Linton Daily Citizen, IN 5-24-1943, 1.
[10] Seymour Daily Tribune, IN. “Drowning Inquest Being Held Today.” 5-18-1943, p. 1.
[11] United Press. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, 1.
[12] United Press. “Indiana Damage in Millions; Five Persons Drown.” Hammond Times, IN. 5-19-1943, 1
[13] Associated Press. “Five Drownings Are Reported Over Week-End.” The Muscatine Journal, IA. 5-31-1943, p. 1.
[14] Associated Press. “Five Drownings Are Reported Over Week-End.” The Muscatine Journal, IA. 5-31-1943, p. 1.
[15] Associated Press. “Five Drownings Are Reported Over Week-End.” The Muscatine Journal, IA. 5-31-1943, p. 1.
[16] Associated Press. “Damage Heavy In Flash Flood At Sparta, Wis.,” The Muscatine Journal, IA. 5-31-1943, p. 1.