<br />the low-lying, flood prone areas are offered such low prices that they find it dis-
<br />orienting to examine the negative aspects. However, it is difficult to finance the
<br />sale of real property in flood prone areas of most urban communities today because
<br />of the necessity to acquire flood insurance before financing is approved.
<br />
<br />A sometimes forgotten
<br />operations. Included are:
<br />from temporary closing of
<br />to the local governments.
<br />tion.
<br />
<br />cost of stormwater flooding is the effect on business
<br />the delay of employees getting to work, the economic loss
<br />a business or manufacturing plant, and the clean-up costs
<br />Many of these costs are recurring and deserve considera-
<br />
<br />Major Flood Disasters, Losses and Federal Aid
<br />
<br />The Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood in 1889 startled the nation when more than
<br />2,200 persons were killed. Since that event, major flood disasters have been docu-
<br />mented in all parts of the United States. Eleven years after the Johnstown flood,
<br />in September 1900, an estimated 5,000 people were killed in Galveston, Texas when
<br />flood waters engulfed the areas during a hurricane. Floods spawned by hurricanes
<br />during 1928 killed 1,836 persons in Southern Florida and 450 in Santa Paula, Cali-
<br />fornia. Although the losses in the hurricane events would be practically impos-
<br />sible to guard against, many other recorded flood disasters were results of "Acts
<br />of God" combined with human ignorance, shortsightedness, greed and indifference.
<br />Rivers, streams, lakes and oceanfronts provide many positive attributes and advan-
<br />tages to homebuilders, industry and commerce. However, much of the human and eco-
<br />nomic losses during the last century could have been considerably less had fore-
<br />sight and good judgement prevailed as towns and cities were established and expanded,
<br />
<br />Other recorded flood disasters in the United States resulting in large loss of
<br />life include:
<br />
<br />1903, Heppner, Oregon, 250 dead;
<br />March 25-27, 1913, Indiana and Ohio, 732 dead;
<br />December 1-5, 1913, Brazos River, Texas, 177 dead;
<br />August 17, 1915, Galveston, 275 dead;
<br />1921, Pueblo, Colorado, more than 200 dead;
<br />April-May, 1927, Mississippi River Valley, 214 dead;
<br />January 22, 1937, Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, 250 dead;
<br />1951, sections of Missouri and Kansas, 41 dead;
<br />July 1961, Charleston, West Virginia, 20 dead;
<br />1964, Pacific Northwest, 45 dead;
<br />January 18-26, 1969, Southern California, 91 dead;
<br />July 4, 1969, Northern Ohio, 41 dead;
<br />August 25, 1969, Western Virginia, 189 dead;
<br />June 10, 1972, Rapid City, South Dakota, 238 dead;
<br />February 26, 1972, Buffalo Creek Hollow, West Virginia, 118 dead;
<br />July 31, 1976, Loveland, Colorado (Big Thompson Canyon), about 139 dead;
<br />September 12, 1977, Kansas City, Missouri, 85 dead; and
<br />November 6, 1977, Toccoa Falls, Georgia, 39 dead.
<br />
<br />According to estimates of the United States Office of Emergency Preparedness
<br />made in 1972, approximately 10,000,000 persons live in significantly defined flood-
<br />plains--and another 25,000,000 could be affected by floods. In all, according to
<br />the estimates, 50 million acres (78,000 square miles) of land are subject to flood-
<br />ing. Because people have not abandoned these floodplain areas, flood disasters
<br />continue to plague the United States today. In April 1975, more than a million
<br />acres of land were under water in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee from flooding
<br />along the Mississippi River Valley.
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