The scientific assessment and strategy team contributions assessing the 1993 flood on the Mississippi and Missouri River basins

The Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team was formed to provide scientific advice and assistance to federal officials responsible for making decisions with respect to flood recovery in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (above Cairo, Illinois) as a result of the 1993 flooding. The team assembled data from a wide variety of sources within federal, state, and local governments, and the private sector. The huge volume of data (over 250 gigabytes) made analysis of all the data difficult. The locating, obtaining, and conversion of the data were extremely difficult leading to a recommendation for an on-line source or at least an on-line listing of available data. Parts of the data were analyzed and scientific bases were establishedfor discussions concerning levee effects on flood stages, effects of wetlands on flooding, effects of man 's increased intervention in the floodplains and uplands, and proposals regarding floodways on the nations rivers. The data collected indicated that the 1993 flooding could not be attributed to man's intervention on the floodplain but to the excessive amount of rainfall in the basin. The stormpatterns thatproduced the rainfall also moved south at about the same speed as the flood waters resulting in storms later in the summer reinforcing early floods. This resulted in a very long duration flood that overwhelmed existing flood reduction measures in the portions of the basin that were flooded.