578 TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII 



The rivers were rising steadily in the vicinity of Prairie du Chien and 

 Dubuque by the end of March, and the continued rainy weather during 

 the first ten days of April made it apparent that a flood would be experi- 

 enced in the Davenport District during the last decade of the month. 

 Forecasts were issued daily for a steady rise, and on April 14 interests 

 were advised that the crest stage would reach Davenport during the week 

 of April 23-29. On April 17 a general flood warning was issued to the 

 effect that the crest stages would equal those of the 1920 flood in this 

 District. On Wednesday, April 19, the following definite stages were 

 forecast: Clinton, 19.0 feet by Saturday; Le Claire, 13.0 feet by Saturday; 

 Davenport, 17.0 feet by Saturday, and Muscatine, 19.0 feet by Saturday 

 mght. Those stages were reached within one-tenth of a foot at all sta- 

 tions. 



At Davenport, the crest stage was 17.1 feet on April 23, exactly the 

 same as the crest in the flood of 1920; at Clinton, the crest stage was 19.0 

 feet, during the night of April 21-22, exactly the same as the crest in 

 1920; at Le Claire the crest was 12.9 feet during the night of April 22-23. 

 0.5 foot less than the crest in 1920, but the difference was due to the gage 

 readings being affected by a dam which has been built near Le Claire since 

 1920, as the overflowed area was practically the same; at Muscatine, the 

 water rose above the permanent river gage, and a temporary gage showed 

 a stage of 19.1 feet on the morning of the 23d, and reached the crest stage 

 of 19.5 feet on the 24th, the h.ghest of record. Levees in the vicinity of 

 Muscatine have been strengthened considerably since the flood of 1920, 

 and, therefore, a much higher gage reading resulted; the highest stage 

 reached in 1920 was 18.0 feet, but the levees gave way and prevented 

 what would have been at least another foot rise. On April 26, the levee 

 broke at a point ten miles north of Burlington, and that relieved the 

 situation at Muscatine, even though the crest had already been reached 

 at the latter place. 



Forecasts and warnings were given wide distribution by mail, news- 

 papers, telephone, and radio, and all interests had ample time to protect 

 their property. No losses were sustained as a result of being unpre- 

 pared to meet the emergency. In the vicinity of Muscatine and New 

 Boston hundreds of men worked day and night, patrolling and strength- 

 ening the levees; high northwest winds on April 19 made conditions 

 critical for the Illinois side of the river, but fortunately the levees held, 

 and favorable weather prevailed during the remainder of the week. 



A careful survey of the Tri-Cities and their environs is summed up as 

 follows. 



Loss and damage due to flooding of property which could not 



be protected $37,000 



Added expenses, incurred in protection work 9,000 



Losses due to suspension of business 1,000 



Muscatine reports items similar to above and crop loss totaling $31,000, 

 also that $400,000 worth of property was saved by the warnings. 



No loss of life by drowning occurred in this District as a direct result 

 of the flood. 



