207 



that from March 23 up to the moniiug of the :2Tth. r.angorville, Ohio, had a 

 total of 9.50 iuehes (the iionual rainfall for the whole luoiitli of March at 

 that i)lace Is 3.93 inches) ; Marion, Ohio, 10.60 inches (normal for the 

 month .'!..">1 inches); Bellefontaine, Ohio, 11.16 inches (monthly normal, 

 3.79 inches). 



In the state of Indiana, in i)laces, at leasr. the precipitation was even 

 greater than in those jnst mentioned for Ohio. For example at P.looming- 

 ton, Indiana, on March 2")th. 6.56 inches" of rain fell, and for the month of 

 March 13.3 inches. The normal I'ainfall for Bloomington for March is 

 about 3.91 inches. The <>.5() inches of rainfall on .Marcli 25tli. whidi was 

 probal)l.v equaled or excelled in other states, occurred to a greater or less 

 extent over at least half of the state of Indiana. This immense volume of 

 water from an area in Indiana of about 18.175 square miles rushed away 

 from the deforested hills unimpeded. As a result almost every stream in 

 the state was innuediatel.v flooded far l)eyond its banks and every movable 

 object washed away. It is probable that witli snch huge and sudden precipi- 

 tations as occurred in March of 1913 the floods would not have been entirely 

 prevented if the region affected had been covered by a dense forest. It 

 would have prevented, however, most of this great Hood and at the same 

 time have prevented all or nearly all of the destructive results. If the flood 

 during the spring of 1913 had occurred in winter, when the ground was 

 frozen hard and covered witli a deep snow, the results would have been 

 appalling l>eyond description. Under such conditions in the deforested 

 area the snow would soon have 1)een melted and have added to the volume 

 of water. The frozen soil could not have absorljed any of the water; little 

 forest remains to ha-\'e checked the flow in any way, so that the crest of the 

 flood would have l)een higher and the extent of its destruction would have 

 been much greater than it was. Yet this is exactly what Indiana and 

 other states may expect sooner or latei'. Another great flood like that of 

 1913 might occur says Reynolds' "within the next decade, especially if, as 

 asserted, we are now passing through a cycle of wet years." Under present 

 conditions, however, with the greater part of the forests gone, and their 

 destruction going rapidly on. we can easily see that heavy and sudden 

 precipitations of equal intensity to those just referred to will cause greater 

 floods and bring greater havoc than liefore. Floods are frequently fol- 



« Government Station Report for Bloomington, Ind., March 25, 191.3. 



' Reynolds, Robert U. R. The Ohio Floods: Their Cause and The Remedy, .\mencan For- 

 estry, May, 1913, p. 288. 



