The 1979 Easter flood was one of the most costly and devastating

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s to ever occur in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States, with $500–700 million in damages. $ billion in 2020 dollars. It was the result of the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all ...

being overwhelmed by severe rain upstream. Floodwaters sent the Pearl 15 feet above flood stage. More than 17,000 residents of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

, Flowood,

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

, Richland, and other settlements in the Jackson metropolitan area were forced from their homes. The flooding of the Pearl River placed most of the streets of Jackson, the state's capital city, under several feet of water.

The river

The Pearl River is 490 miles long. It begins in

Winston County, Mississippi Winston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. In the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 19,198. Its county seat is Louisville, Mississippi, Louisville. The county is named fo ...

and ends at the

Mississippi Sound The Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from Waveland, Mississippi, to the Dauphin Island Bridge, a distance of about . The sound is sepa ...

. Northeast of Jackson, the man-made

Ross Barnett Reservoir The Ross Barnett Reservoir, often called the Rez, is a reservoir of the Pearl River between Madison and Rankin counties in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The lake serves as the state's largest drinking water resource, and is managed by the Pea ...

is formed by a dam in the Pearl River. It flooded due to abnormally high rainfall in the preceding months (up to 150% more than usual). The water level reached a record-setting 43.28 feet on April 17, 1979. 1979 Easter Flood Jackson Mississippi 2

Present

Flood stage at Jackson in 1979 was considered to be 18 feet (relative to the gauge datum on Pearl River), but as of 2004, this stage was set as 28 feet.

External links

NBC News Update Easter 1979 broadcast
which includes coverage of the 1979 Easter flood.
WLBT Archive: Flood of 1979Lessons of the 1979 Easter Flood

References

{{reflist Easter Natural disasters in Mississippi Floods in the United States 1970s floods in the United States 1979 floods 1979 natural disasters in the United States Easter Flood, 1979 Easter Flood