Great Flood of 1993 and Indradeep Sinha: Difference between pages

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Veteran [[Communist]] leader, '''Indradeep Sinha''' was born in a [[Bhumihar| Bhumihar Brahmin]] family at Shakara village in [[Siwan]] District of Bihar in July, 1914.<ref>{{cite news
{{Infobox flood
| url = http://164.100.47.5/rsdebate/synopsis/199/21072003.htm
|name=Great Flood of 1993
| date = 2008-04-04
|image name=Flood waters inundated parts of Jefferson City, MO and threatened the Missouri State Capitol during the "Great Flood of 1993".
| accessdate = 2008-04-04
|image location=MO_capital_flood_93.jpg
}}</ref> Indradeep Sinha had a brilliant academic carrier securing a gold medal in post-graduation in [[Economics]] from [[Patna University]].<ref>{{cite news
|duration=April - October 1993
| url = http://www.solidnet.org/cgi-bin/agent?parties/0370=india,_communist_party_of_india/955india1au03.doc
|total damages=$15 billion <ref name="larson">{{cite web|url=http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/floods/papers/oh_2/great.htm |title=The Great USA Flood of 1993 |author=Larson, Lee W. |publisher=National Weather Service}}</ref>
| title = Com. Indradeep Sinha Remembered
|total fatalities=50 <ref name="larson"/>
| author = V.Gangadhar
|areas affected= [[Illinois]], [[Iowa]], [[Kansas]], [[Minnesota]], [[Missouri]], [[Nebraska]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], and [[Wisconsin]]
| publisher = New Age
}}
| date = 2003–08-01
The '''Great Flood of 1993 '''occurred in the [[United States|American]] [[Midwest]], along the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Missouri River|Missouri river]]s and their tributaries, from April to October, 1993. The flood was among the most costly and devastating ever to occur in the United States, with $15 billion in damages. The hydrographic basin affected covered around 745 miles (1200 km) in length and 435 miles (700 km) in width, totaling about 320,000 square miles (840,000 km²)<ref name="larson"/>. Within this zone, the [[flood]]ed area totaled around 30,000 square miles (80,000 km²)<ref name="NASA">{{cite web
| accessdate = 2008-04-04
|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/HighWater/
}}</ref> He wrote about 25 books and his writings are guidelines for the next generation committed to people's cause.<ref>{{cite news
|title=High Water: Building A Global Flood Atlas
| url = http://www.solidnet.org/cgi-bin/agent?parties/0370=india,_communist_party_of_india/955india1au03.doc
|publisher= NASA Earth Observatory
| title = Com. Indradeep Sinha Remembered
|accessdate=2007-10-25}}</ref> and was the worst such U.S. disaster since the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]], as measured by duration, square miles inundated, persons displaced, crop and property damage, and number of record river levels. In some categories, the 1993 flood even surpassed the 1927 flood, at the time the largest flood ever recorded on the Mississippi.
| author = V.Gangadhar
| publisher = New Age
| date = 2003–08-01
| accessdate = 2008-04-04
}}</ref> He chose to serve the people by fighting for political freedom of the nation and social and economic justice to its people. A lecturer and journalist by vocation, Sinha was Secretary of the Bihar State Council of the [[Communist Party of India]] from 1962 to 1967 and had served as the General Secretary of the [[All India Kisan Sabha]] since 1973 till late nineties. Sinha was also editor of the ''Hunkar'', ''Janasakti'' and ''New Age'' weeklies. Indradeep Sinha started his legislative career with the membership of the [[Bihar Legislative Council]], where he was a member from 1964 to 1974. He also served as the Minister of Revenues in the United Front Government of Bihar from 1967 to 1968. As Revenues Minister, he took several initiatives to ameliorate the condition of the poor and downtrodden class and took steps for distribution of land to the landless in the State. Sinha represented the State of Bihar in the [[Rajya Sabha]] for two terms from April, 1974 to April, 1980 and again from July, 1980 to July, 1986.


==Partial Bibliography of books authored==
==Causes==
*Crisis of capitalist path in India: The policy alternatives, [[Communist Party of India]] (1982).
[[Image:Saint Louis satellite photo of Great Flood.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Satellite photo of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers near [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] during the Great Flood of 1993.]][[Image:StLouis-Sep2002-USGS-Landsat Dedacal.PNG‎|left|thumb|300px|Same location imaged by the [[Landsat program]] in September 2002]]
*On certain ideological positions of [[CPI(M)]], [[Communist Party of India]] (1983).
It has been suggested that '''unusually heavy precipitation''' beginning in the year leading up to the flood was the result of excess [[cloud condensation nuclei]] from the earth-circling [[volcanic ash|ash cloud]] generated by the massive eruption (the second largest of the 20th century) of the [[Philippines]] [[volcano]] [[Mount Pinatubo]] in June 1991<ref name="Pinatubo">{{cite web |title=Mount Pinatubo|url=http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/sneed3/pinatubo.htm|publisher=Sneed, Clayton L.|date=[[May 21]], [[2001]] |accessdate=2008-06-15}}</ref>. '''A rainy autumn in 1992 resulted in above-normal soil moisture and reservoir levels''' in the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] and Upper [[Mississippi River]] basins. During the winter of 1992-93, '''the region experienced heavy snowfall'''. These conditions were followed by '''persistent spring weather patterns that produced storms over the same locations'''. These wet-weather conditions contrasted sharply with the [[drought]]s and [[heat wave]]s experienced in the southeastern United States.
*Real face of JP's total revolution, [[Communist Party of India]] (1974).

*Some features of current agrarian situation in India, [[All India Kisan Sabha]], (1987).
'''Storms''', persistent and repetitive in nature '''during the late spring and summer, bombarded the Upper Midwest with voluminous rainfall'''. Portions of east-central Iowa received as much as {{convert|48|in|mm}} of rain between [[April 1]] and [[August 31]], [[1993]], and many areas across the central-northern plains '''had 400-750% above normal precipitation.''' <ref name="larson"/> In the [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] [[National Weather Service]] (NWS) forecast area encompassing eastern [[Missouri]] and southwest [[Illinois]], 36 forecast points rose above [[flood stage]], and 20 river-stage records were broken. The 1993 flood broke record river levels set during the 1973 Mississippi and the 1951 Missouri River floods.
*The changing agrarian scene: Problems and tasks, Peoples Publishing House (1980).

*Some questions concerning Marxism and the peasantry, [[Communist Party of India]] (1982).
An Illinois man, [[James Scott (criminal)|James Scott]], 23 at the time, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in causing some of the flooding across the river from Quincy, IL. He was officially convicted for "intentionally causing a catastrophe". Scott removed several sandbags from a levee holding back the water, in an attempt to strand his wife on the other side of the river so he could continue partying. The breach flooded 14,000 acres (57 km²) of farmland, destroyed buildings and closed a bridge.<ref name="timescott">{{cite news |title= Milestones |url= |publisher=''Time Magazine'' |date=[[December 19]], [[1994]] |accessdate=2007-07-22 }}</ref><ref name="Scapegoat">{{cite news |title= Scapegoat |url= |publisher=''Illinois Times'' |date=[[January 19]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2007-08-27 }}</ref> While Scott caused one levee to fail, more than 1,000 levees failed in the flooding.
*Sathi ke Kisanon ka Aitihasic Sangharsha (Historic Struggle of Sathi Peasants), in [[Hindi]], [[Patna]] (1969).
<br style="clear:both;">

==Timeline==
===April===
[[Image:1993 view of St. Louis riverfront.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The view at the [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] riverfront]]
In April, the Mississippi River had crested 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 m) above flood stage.

===May===
The [[Redwood River]] in [[Minnesota]] began experiencing severe flooding in May. <ref name="lott">{{cite web|url=http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/documentlibrary/reports/technical/tr9304.pdf |title=The Summer of 1993: Flooding in the Midwest and Drought in the Southeast, Technical Report 93-04 |author=Lott, Neal |publisher=National Climatic Data Center, NOAA |date=1993, September 16}}</ref> On [[May 22]], [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]] received {{convert|7.5|in|mm}} of rain in a three hour period. From May - July, Sioux Falls received {{convert|22.55|in|mm}} of rain, the wettest three-month period in its history.<ref>[http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fsd/?n=20thcentury http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fsd/?n=20thcentury]</ref>

The Mississippi River had flood levels at St. Louis, Missouri 6-10 feet above flood stage during May. And then suddenly benny farted

===June===
As noted above, heavy rains in South Dakota contributed to flooding downstream. In June, flooding occurred along the [[Black River]] in [[Wisconsin]], with flooding also starting to occur along the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]], [[Missouri River|Missouri]], and [[Kansas River|Kansas river]]s. <ref name="lott"/> Starting as early as [[June 7]], reports of levees being overtopped and levee breaks became common. These breaches acted to delay the flood crests, temporarily storing excess water in the adjacent lowlands, but the rain kept falling.
[[Image:Flooding 1993 fema 13708.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Mississippi River out of its banks in [[Festus, Missouri]]. The spot where this photo was taken is nearly 1.5 miles and 30 feet above the river.]]

In the beginning of June, the Missouri and Mississippi rivers dropped below flood stage and were receding. During the second week of June, river levels rose to near flood stage before yet again beginning their slow recession. By the end of June, the Mississippi River was four feet (1.2 m) below flood stage at St. Louis, while many other river locations in the region were near flood stage. Precipitation for the month averaged from one inch (25 mm) above normal at [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], to nearly four inches (100 mm) above normal at [[Springfield, Missouri|Springfield]].

===July===
July brought more heavy rain to the Missouri and upper Mississippi River basins in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Illinois and Minnesota. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches (125 to 175 mm) in 24 hours were common. [[Precipitation (meteorology)|Precipitation]] for the month averaged from one inch (25 mm) above normal at St. Louis and Springfield, to between six and seven inches (150 to 175 mm) above normal at Columbia and Kansas City, Missouri.

From [[July 11]] until [[July 22]], the [[Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines]] Water Works treatment facility was flooded by the [[Raccoon River]]. This resulted in the plant being powered down and no running water for that period. During this time the [[Army National Guard]] and [[American Red Cross]] set up water stations, and the local [[Anheuser-Busch]] bottler distributed water in white [[six-pack]]s with their logo on it. Once running water was restored, there was enough pressure for people to bathe and flush toilets, but the water was not certified [[potable]] until [[July 29]]. The final usage restrictions were lifted in August.

Major [[sandbag]]ging activities took place along the lower Missouri River, the [[River des Peres]] in St. Louis, the Mississippi River south of St. Louis and on many other tributaries across Missouri and Illinois. Some of these efforts were successful, while others were not. The copious rain during July sent record-setting crests down the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, causing river gauges to malfunction along the way. The record crests met within days of each other at their confluence near St. Louis. Navigation on the Mississippi and Missouri River was closed in early July, resulting in a loss of $2 million (1993) per day in commerce.

[[Image:Alton Illinois sinking in 1993.jpg|thumb|225px|right|Water encroaching on the City of [[Alton, Illinois]]]]
The Mississippi River stalled a few days at April 1973 record stages. When the crest of the Missouri River arrived, levels rose upwards again. The Mississippi River broke through levees, drove people and their possessions to higher ground and caused havoc through the floodplains.

The crests, now combined as one, moved downstream through St. Louis on the way to the confluence with the [[Ohio River]] at [[Cairo, Illinois]]. Only minor flooding occurred below the Ohio due to the river's larger channel below that point and the drought in the eastern U.S. If the Ohio River watershed had not been in drought conditions, the 1993 flood might have rivaled the 1927 flood in overall damage on the lower Mississippi.

[[Civil Air Patrol]] crews from 21 states served more than 5,000 meals to flood victims and volunteers, and their pilots logged more than 1,500 hours in the air inspecting utility lines and pipelines. <ref>{{cite news
|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04E3857088829&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
|title=Watching Over: Civil Air Patrol on Flood Duty
|author=Robert Goodrich
|publisher=St. Louis Post Dispach
|date=August 16, 1993
|accessdate=2007-12-04}}</ref>

Over 1,000 flood warnings and statements, five times the normal, were issued to notify the public and need-to-know officials of river levels. In places like St. Louis, river levels were nearly 20 feet (6 m) above flood stage, the highest ever recorded in 228 years. <ref>[http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/Circa1804/StLouis/BlockInfo/Block7Efounding.htm "Lewis & Clark Expedition", St. Louis Founding, National Park Service]</ref>. The 52-foot (16 m)-high St. Louis Floodwall, built to handle the volume of the 1844 flood, was able to keep the 1993 flood out with just over two feet (0.6 m) to spare.

===August===
[[Image:1993-flood1.jpg|thumb|Monument to the 1993 flood at [[Jones-Confluence Point State Park]] at the confluence of the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] and [[Mississippi River]]s in [[St. Charles County, Missouri]], normally {{convert|400|ft|m}} above sea level. The flag says the water reached the top of the pole at {{convert|438.2|ft|m}}.]]
On [[August 1]], levee breaks near [[Columbia, Illinois]] flooded 47,000 acres (190 km²) of land, inundating the towns of [[Valmeyer, Illinois|Valmeyer]] and [[Fults, Illinois]]. The released water continued to flow parallel to the river, approaching the levees protecting historic [[Prairie du Rocher, Illinois|Prairie du Rocher]] and [[Fort de Chartres]]. On [[August 3]], officials decided to break through the stronger Mississippi River levee to allow the water back into the river. The plan worked and the historic areas were saved, although residential areas were flooded in counties above Prairie du Rocher.

Emergency officials estimated that nearly all of the 700 privately built agricultural levees were overtopped or destroyed along the Missouri River. Navigation on the Mississippi and Missouri River had been closed since early July resulting in a loss of $2 million (1993) per day in commerce.

The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested at 49.6 feet (15.1 m) on [[August 1]], nearly 20 feet (6 m) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weather.com/encyclopedia/flood/miss93.html |publisher=weather.com |title=The Mississippi River Flood Of 1993}}</ref> above flood stage. It had a peak flow rate of 1,080,000 ft³/s (30,600 m³/s). At this rate, a bowl the size of [[Busch Memorial Stadium]] would be filled to the brim in 69 seconds.

==Costs and damage==
Some locations on the Mississippi River flooded for almost 200 days while 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 [[Saint Charles, Missouri|St. Charles]] in the St. Louis metropolitan area. On [[October 7]], 103 days after it began, the Mississippi River at St. Louis finally dropped below flood stage. Approximately 10,000 homes were destroyed as a result of the flooding, with 15 million acres (60,000 km²) of farmland inundated, and the whole towns of [[Valmeyer, Illinois]] and [[Rhineland, Missouri]] were relocated to higher ground.<ref name="larson"/> 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.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

==Comparison to other big floods==
[[Image:KC-floods.jpg|thumb|Flood levels at Westport Landing on the Missouri River in Kansas City. The flood heights from top to bottom are 1993, 1844 and 1951. [[ASB Bridge]] in background]]
Channeling and levee construction have altered how the floods have hit various areas along the Missouri River. Here's a comparison of the three big floods since the early 1800s.

*[[Great Flood of 1844]] - This was the biggest flood of the three in terms of rate of discharge at Westport Landing in Kansas City. It is estimated that 625,000 cubic feet per second (17,700 m³/s) was discharged in the flood. However the crest on [[July 16]], [[1844]], was almost a foot (0.3 m) lower than the 1993 flood.
*[[Great Flood of 1951]] - The 1951 flood was the second biggest in terms of rate of discharge at 573,000 ft³/s (16,200 m³/s). The 1951 crest on [[July 14]], [[1951]], was almost two feet (0.6 m) lower than the 1844 flood and three feet (1 m) lower than 1993. However, the flood was the most devastating of all modern floods for Kansas City since its levee system was not built to withstand it. It destroyed the [[Kansas City Stockyards]] and caused Kansas City to build [[Kansas City International Airport]] away from the Missouri River bottoms to replace the heavily damaged [[Fairfax Airport]] in [[Kansas City, Kansas]].
*Great Flood of 1993 - The 1993 flood was the highest of any of the three but had the lowest discharge at 541,000 ft³/s (15,300 m³/s). While the 1993 flood had devastating impacts elsewhere, Kansas City survived it relatively well because of levee improvements after the 1951 flood.

* [[Studies of the Flood]] This Flood was also used to model other natural disasters and simulate potential flood impacts in areas awaiting more extensive flood control efforts. See http://www.marshall.edu/cber/research/trp00-04.pdf for a study by Mark Burton and Michael Hicks.

==See also==
{{Commonscat}}
* [[Floods in the United States]]
* [[Iowa flood of 2008]]
* [[June 2008 Midwest floods]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Stanley Chagnon, ''The Great Flood of 1993: Causes, Impacts, And Responses,'' Westview, 1996. ISBN 0813326192

[[Category:Natural disasters in Illinois]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Iowa]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Missouri]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in North Dakota]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in South Dakota]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Kansas]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Mississippi River]]
[[Category:Missouri River]]
[[Category:Floods in the United States]]
[[Category:1993 natural disasters]]
[[Category:1993 meteorology]]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha, Indradeep}}
[[fr:Inondation du Midwest américain de 1993]]
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[he:השיטפון הגדול של 1993]]
[[Category:Indian communists]]
[[ja:アメリカ中西部大洪水]]
[[Category:Indian politicians]]

Revision as of 06:19, 13 October 2008

Veteran Communist leader, Indradeep Sinha was born in a Bhumihar Brahmin family at Shakara village in Siwan District of Bihar in July, 1914.[1] Indradeep Sinha had a brilliant academic carrier securing a gold medal in post-graduation in Economics from Patna University.[2] He wrote about 25 books and his writings are guidelines for the next generation committed to people's cause.[3] He chose to serve the people by fighting for political freedom of the nation and social and economic justice to its people. A lecturer and journalist by vocation, Sinha was Secretary of the Bihar State Council of the Communist Party of India from 1962 to 1967 and had served as the General Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha since 1973 till late nineties. Sinha was also editor of the Hunkar, Janasakti and New Age weeklies. Indradeep Sinha started his legislative career with the membership of the Bihar Legislative Council, where he was a member from 1964 to 1974. He also served as the Minister of Revenues in the United Front Government of Bihar from 1967 to 1968. As Revenues Minister, he took several initiatives to ameliorate the condition of the poor and downtrodden class and took steps for distribution of land to the landless in the State. Sinha represented the State of Bihar in the Rajya Sabha for two terms from April, 1974 to April, 1980 and again from July, 1980 to July, 1986.

Partial Bibliography of books authored

References

  1. ^ . 2008-04-04 http://164.100.47.5/rsdebate/synopsis/199/21072003.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-04. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ V.Gangadhar (2003–08-01). "Com. Indradeep Sinha Remembered". New Age. Retrieved 2008-04-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ V.Gangadhar (2003–08-01). "Com. Indradeep Sinha Remembered". New Age. Retrieved 2008-04-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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