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<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. <br /> <br />28 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />! <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />