Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America is a non-fiction novel by John M. Barry. The Flood of 1927 was, until Katrina, the greatest natural disaster in the history of the United States. According to John M. Barry's website, "The flood brought with it a human storm: white and black collided, honor and money collided, and national power structures collided."
Our story begins by describing the lives of Andrew Atkinson Humphreys and James Buchanan Eads. Eads, a poor, self-taught engineer, came to St. Louis in 1833 with his mother and sisters at the age of thirteen. When he was just sixteen years old, his family moves away and he remains in St. Louis. Eads began a salvage business salvaging sunken ships on the bottom of the Mississippi River and designs the equipment he uses. This makes Eads very rich. Eads retires at thirty-seven and marries his cousin.
Humphreys was born in 1810 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Point and entered the Army Corps of Engineers. Humphreys was in the military but retired due to illness. In 1850, Humphrey attempts to get the job of surveying the Mississippi River. A well-known engineer Charles Ellet is his competition. After a heated dispute, Congress then decides to split the funding between the two men and compare their reports. Ellet quickly publishes his report. Humphreys is dissatisfied with the report and writes a pamphlet criticizing it. Humphreys published his report during the Civil War. But because of the Civil War, his report doesn't attract much attention until the war ends.
In the end of the 1850s, after the Civil War, railroads became a major priority. Therefore, using the Mississippi for transportation was eminent. Eads considered jetties that would use new techniques not seen before. A problem he quickly ran into was sandbars. Sand bars constantly were piling up, making the river impassable. Jetties will increase the flow of water which scours the bottom of the river, removing any sandbars. Eads offers to pay for the project and will be reimbursed if the jetties work properly. His project was successfully completed in 1879. Soon, Congress creates the Mississippi River Commission which holds a "Levees-only" policy because of reports claiming Eads' jetties will not work.
Leroy Percy was a wealthy lawyer bred to power with many friendships with high government people. Percy was responsible for bringing Italians to work in the cotton fields which lead to racial tensions. Rumors arise of mistreatment which leads to an investigation and arrest of Percy's partner. When Governor Vardamen of Mississippi runs for Senate in 1908, Percy is involved in his opposition. Two years later, Percy and Vardaman run against each other when a Senator dies. Percy wins the open seat. In 1911, Theodore Bilbo, a U.S. Senator and racist, beats Percy for his own seat. This leads to complete racist control in the Delta. The following year, the Mississippi River begins topping levees and overflowing in some areas.
Despite the poor crime-ridden areas, the Delta is booming. Just before World War I, riots and strikes spread across the country. The Klu Klux Klan becomes more and more powerful as hatred and fear rises. In Greenville, Percy resists being overthrown by the Klu Klux Klan. KKK members begin obtaining government positions until 1926.
In 1913, river flooding demonstrated that the "Levees only" position is not working. The assessment is that the levees should be made stronger. As the river rises, Percy uses his own workers to start construction in Greenville. Residents south of New Orleans evacuate because their levees don't hold. New Orleans is relatively safe. Though much flooding, the Mississippi River Commission doesn't change much.
Rising water levels and levee damage increase tensions between people. Armed men were hired to guard levees because of the threat of levee sabotage. Flooding, levee breaks and record rainfall devastate large areas. As the water rises, workers are forced to maintain and strengthen the levees. Guards shoot people attempting sabotage the levee. Sabotage on the opposite side of the levee from your town would flood the opposite side of the river, lowering water levels protecting a person's town.
The Mounds Landing flood covers one million acres, kills hundreds, and displaces 100,000. The flood waters quickly crash against a levee protecting Greenville. Soon, the levee is gone. Greenville is flooded. Leroy Percy will not be defeated. He is determined to rebuild his city.
New Orleans newspapers were controlled by few people, including James Thompson. When rumors arise of sabotage of the levee system in St. Bernard Parish, Issac Cline of the U.S. Weather Bureau, pleaded with Thompson to print the truth and not just what he thought people wanted to hear. Thompson begins to campaign for the destruction of the levees in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish to relieve the pressure on the levees in New Orleans. Thompson takes his campaigning one step further to Washington D.C. and to the governor of Louisiana, Oramel Simpson who agrees.
The people of St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish will lose homes and property in the event of sabotage. Consequently, they demand to be paid for what they lose. Governor Simpson approves. Three days later, the levees are destroyed with the social elite watching (image 1).
Hoover was greatly responsible for organizing the Red Cross and other organizations after the floods in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. Refugee camps were set in place to house 10,000 people. As other levees continue to fail, up to 100,000 people are evacuated.
Leroy Percy's son, William Percy, was a poet and graduated from Sawanee. He soon graduated from Harvard Law School and worked in with his father. Secretly he wanted to be a poet. Will becomes a distinguished captain in World War I even though he openly opposed war.
Soon after the levee failure of Mounds Landing, Greenville was flooding. Will attempts to organize Greenville. Much of Greenville evacuates to the levees. Will decides on voluntary martial law and to evacuate the town completely. The flood relief committee decided that black workers and refugee would not be allowed to evacuate. A curfew was soon in place when looting begins. Will begins controlling the black refugees as slaves. They were forced to clean wreckage and rebuild the levee. When rumors of poor treatment of the black reach Hoover, he quickly begins an investigation.
Just as the waters begin to recede, flood season began again. At this happens, Will demands blacks to quickly repair the levee. Black workers organized themselves to get the work done. The Red Cross provided a supply of food, but the black workers did not receive the benefits. This caused racial tensions to grow. Tensions remain high and Will's inexperience does nothing to help. He soon leaves the country.
Butler promised the people of St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish would be compensated for their losses. He gave as little compensation as possible even though he received a generous amount of money for the reality he lost. There was $35 million worth of claims, but most of those claims were denied. After paying for the food and housing for the refugees, very little money was left to pay compensation (image 2). People around the U.S. donated money to the flood relief, but it was not enough. Banks can't give loans and big corporations don't want to risk losing money by settling in desolate land.
Hoover, who will be running in the next presidential election, discovers in his investigation that the black refugees were being forced to work as slaves. Refugees were given seeds to harvest on their land. But because of hard summer and winter seasons, not many were available to harvest. Disease, food shortages and malnutrition runs though the camps killing many.
New laws set forth to govern a flood are initiated in Washington by Hoover, LeRoy, Butler, and a new committee, the Tri-state Flood Control Committee. After the flood of 1927, New Orleans struggles to rebuild all that was lost.
The Delta is demolished from the treacherous flood waters. About half of the black population moved away from the Delta following the flood. Many realize that Hoover used the black refugees and the flood to gain advantages politically. LeRoy Percy dies in late 1929. Will, who left in 1929 after the flood, dies in 1941.
