By Dr. Curtis Varnell
A common refrain in Arkansas is, “if you don’t like the weather today, just wait till tomorrow.” During the summer, we wish for colder weather; in winter, we wish for the reverse. Recently, a common refrain across a big part of the U.S. is drought and the need for more rain. No matter the weather, we always are ready for a change but never for as much as we received in 1927.
The year started out warm and dry, resulting in early snow melts in the Rockies. When spring arrived, rains set in on the upper Mississippi and waters from the north filled the Mississippi river basin and the Gulf of Mexico. In April, weather fronts converged across Arkansas and torrents of water poured from the sky. In western Arkansas, twenty inches of rain fell within a two-week period of time. With the Mississippi River at flood stage and melt-water arriving from the mountain, the water had nowhere to go. In places, the Mississippi river was 60 miles wide. So much water was trying to pour into the Mississippi that water flowed backward up the White river, flooding much of the delta. The Baring Cross bridge at Little Rock was endangered. To prevent its collapse, 16 box cars of coal were placed on the railroad track that spanned it to prevent it from being swept away. All 16 cars plus half of the bridge disappeared down the maelstrom.
Levees along the Arkansas river overflowed and then collapsed from the onslaught. Residents from Paris, Ozark, and Russellville watched in horror as equipment, dead animals, and even homes swept by carried by the flood waters. Wild animals, including all kinds of insects, rats, and snakes, were driven to higher ground. The richest of farmland along the major Arkansas rivers and streams were flooded, wiping out any hope for the growing of crops.
Cities faced growing sanitation problems as water, sewer, and electrical power was lost. Streets were impassable, many homes were flooded with feet of water, and people were left without food, clothing, or safe water to drink. Small airplanes flew over area towns, looking for individuals that needed rescued after being stranded on the roofs of buildings.
Eleven per-cent of the state was completely covered by water; water that in some places was 20 feet or more in depth. Dardanelle became an isolated island, surrounded by streams of water. Residents watched as the huge supports for the pontoon bridge washed away, two of them later located far downstream near Morrilton. Residents of area towns called for federal assistance but began collecting local funds and assistance as well to build sand barriers and earth walls to protect their homes. Tent cities developed on top of some of the high levees, attempts to survive until the water receded. The river remained over flood stage for 153 days and it was months before the water receded enough for people to attempt to return to their homes.
Many returned to find their homes and land destroyed. Six miles east of Dardanelle, the Carden bottoms land was covered by several feet of sand washed in from distant mountains. The land was worthless and useless for years to come. The enormity of the disaster changed people’s attitude toward government assistance and resulted in initiating government disaster assistance. The government bought up acres of the land; the portion near Dardanelle is now the Holla Bend wildlife refuge. Remove a few inches of topsoil, the several foot layer of sand still resides.
Like today, a common refrain would have been, “I could live for years without seeing another rainfall. Lord, why can’t you send us some dry weather for a change?”
Be careful what you wish for. The next great American disaster began in 1930 and we know of those times of drought as the “Great Dust Bowl.”
