Mississippi River Flood of 1927- Army Signal Corps Archival Film (1936)

1927 Flood from KnowLA-Know Louisiana on Vimeo.

More archival footage, photos, eye-witness accounts, etc. can be found at

PBS American Experience-Fatal Flood http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flood/index.html.

 

(Edited To Add:  As John Minnerath commented below, the Signal Corps film compilation is indeed grainy & jumpy- apparently the original footage was damaged during the video transfer/editing process. From http://www.archive.org: "The material comes from a 3/4" U-matic video viewing copy made available at the National Archives facility in College Park, MD. The condition of the source material is relatively good for its age. Unfortunately, the transfer to video was badly done with lots of flicker and crooked perspective. Additionally, there are many video artifacts as a result of the age and wear of the video tape. High quality preservation 35mm film exists.")

 

 

-Maureen Lang

 

 

Comments

[John Minnerath]

Great stuff Maureen.
Too bad that old Signal Corps film isn't better.
The Corps of Engineers and the engineering mentality. The system is so totally FUBAR now there's no hope.
The residents of Baton Rouge and New Orleans will heap praise on the CoE if flooding out the rest of south Louisiana saves them. If not, everyone loses and a few bazillion more will be poured in to try and fix past mistakes.

[William R. Cumming]

Terrific history lesson!

[Panaman]

Mighty Mississippi

Way out in the Mississippi valley
Just among the plains so grand,
Flows the flooded Mississippi River
Destroying the works of man.

With her waters at the highest
That all man has ever known,
She came sweeping through the valley
And destroying land and homes.

There were children clinging in the treetops
Who had spent those sleepless nights,
And without a bit of shelter
Or even a spark of light.

With their prayers going up to their Father
For the break of day to come,
That they might see some rescue party
Who would provide for them a home.

There were some of them on the housetops
With no way to give an alarm,
There were mothers wading in the water
With their babies in their arms.

Let us all get right with our Maker
As He doth make all things well,
And be ready to meet in judgment
When we bid this earth farewell.

Recorded by The New Lost City Ramblers; originally from Ernest
Stoneman

[Jackie]

I like Randy Newman's song on the great flood of 1927.

[Shirley Bolton]

One reason my mother's family moved into the Atlanta area in the 1930s was because they were flooded out in the Mississippi overflows in Arkansas. Those floods happened almost yearly. Robert's family packed up and went to Chicago around the same time and for the same reason. Thank you for posting this movie, Maureen, it is very timely. That is a good reading list on the Fatal Flood public tv site. Shirley

[Mimi Falardeaux]

How High's The Water, Mama? sung by Johnny Cash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91OIaPRrDts
How high's the water, mama?
Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Two feet high and risin'

We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and the oats,
Two feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Three feet high and risin'

Well, the hives are gone,
I've lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin'
In the willow trees
Cow's in water up past her knees,
Three feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Four feet high and risin'

Hey, come look through the window pane,
The bus is comin', gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain,
4 feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Five feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Five feet high and risin'

Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water comes down,
Five feet high and risin'

[Film to DVD Transfer Expert]

Thanks for the post of the archival footage. It is amazing what can be preserved these days. I have had great success using the DV8 Sniper HD for all of our 8mm film to DVD transfers. This transfer appears to have used an older technology, but spectacular none-the-less.