Before the Flood of 1993

Does anyone remember the big ass flood that swept the midwest in 1993?  In St. Louis, we still talk about it as if it happened last year - everyone, including me, remembers it vividly.  The flood impacted us personally as we had to help evacuate my father-in-law from his trailer home.  Fortunately the only loss he suffered were a few items in his storage shed as the water only rose a few inches into his yard and never threatened his home.  The pictures and stories that kept rolling in that summer were absolutely incredible.

But in 1992, the year before, we had quite the opposite situation, a drought.  A friend and I took a walk in Sioux Passage Park that July.  Sioux Passage is located at the very tip top portion of St. Louis County on the Missouri River only a few meager miles away from the convergence with the Mississippi River.  The park has a steep cliff, maybe 10 or 15 feet, that overlooks the churning waters below.  Basically it scares the living shit out of me. 

There is a large island in the middle, a wildlife area, that is impossible to access.  Okay, not "impossible", but it would take a boat or something to get there. I sure as hell wouldn't try to swim, that's for sure!  The water is deep with strong under-currents and filled with debris, like gigantic logs.

That year, however, the water between the island and the park was a mere trickle.  We worked our way down the cliff, across the "river", and onto the island.  I know there are pictures somewhere because it is pretty damn rare to be able to do that.

Last weekend my son was able to do the same exact thing.  Makes me nervous about water levels for next summer - it will be the 20th anniversary of the once-in-a-lifetime event, the 500 year flood.

Here he is walking over the trickle.  The water is usually over the green stuff too, up to the trees.

 On the island

This is away from the island where the trickle meets up with the main channel.  All of this would be far below the surface as well.