NORTH MISSISSIPPI FLOODS OF FEBRUARY 1948 by I.E. Anderson Prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi State Geological Survey 1948 BULLETIN 66 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Administration, personnel and acknowledgments General description of storm and flood Stages and discharges at river-measurement stations   during flood period   Tombigbee River Basin       East Fork Tombigbee River near Fulton       East Fork Tombigbee River at Bigbee       Tombigbee River at Aberdeen       Tombigbee River at Columbus       Mackeys Creek near Dennis       Bull Mountain Creek at Tremont       Bull Mountain Creek near Smithville       West Fork Tombigbee River near Nettleton       Buttahatchee River near Caledonia       Tibbee River near Tibbee       Luxapalila Creek at Steens       Noxubee River near Brooksville       Noxubee River at Macon   Pearl River Basin       Pearl River at Edinburg       Yokahockany River near Kosciusko   Big Black River Basin       Big Black River at West       Big Black River at Pickens   Yazoo River Basin       Tallahatchie River at Etta       Tallahatchie River at Sardis Dam, near Sardis       Tallahatchie River near Lambert       Tallahatchie River at Swan Lake       Yazoo River at Greenwood       Yocona River near Enid       Coldwater River near Lewisburg       Coldwater River at Arkabutla Dam, near Arkabutla       Pigeonroost Creek near Lewisburg       Yalobusha River at Graysport       Yalobusha River at Grenada       Skuna River near Coffeeville       Sunflower River at Sunflower Summary of flood stages and discharges Storage   Sardis Reservoir near Sardis   Arkabutla Reservoir near Arkabutla Previous floods Flood damage FIGURES 1. Tombigbee floods overtop joint U.S. Highways 45E and 82, West Columbus 2. Joint U.S. Highways 45E and 82 west of Columbus, overtopped by Tombigbee River 3. Homes in Aberdeen invaded by floodwaters just east of Aberdeen undermined by floodwaters of Tombigbee River 4. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway trestle just east of Aberdeen undermined by floodwaters of Tombigbee River 5. National Guardsmen assisting traffic through floodwaters of Yazoo River 6. Floodwaters of Tallahatchie River enter store in New Albany 7. Floodwaters of Yazoo River creep toward business district of Yazoo City PLATES 1. North Mississippi storm of February 12-14, 1948 2. Graph of mean daily discharge...of the Tallahatchie River at Etta; of the temperature range...and of the precipitation..at Pontotoc 3. Graphs of discharge...for river-measurement stations in Tombigbee River basin ABSTRACT North Mississippi streams reached new record maximum stages and dis- charges as a result of heavy general rains February 12-14, 1948, following a period of snowmelt and rainfall. Along the Tombigbee River main stem the flood of February 1948 was exceeded only by that of April 1892, concerning which only very limited information is available. At Columbus, the discharge was 30.1 second-feet per square mile from a drainage area of 4,490 square miles. All previously re- corded maxima were exceeded in both the East and West Forks of Tom- bigbee River, on the upper Tallahatchie River, and on the Yalobusha and Yocona Rivers. The lower Coldwater, the lower Tallahatchie, and the Yazoo Rivers, below Sardis and Arkabutla flood-control reservoirs, did not reach new record flood heights because of the holding back by those reservoirs of the flow from about 2,000 square miles of con- tributory area. The flood of February 1948 was the greatest since systematic determi- nations of streamflow were initiated in 1900 at Columbus on the Tom- bigbee River. Stage records at this location were started by the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890, and, although they cover the maximum known flood of 1892, definite knowledge of this earliest flood is for the Columbus and Aberdeen stations only, and covers only flood heights. The first streamflow records on the Tombigbee River Basin above Aberdeen or on the tributaries of the Tombigbee River were started in 1928. There is evidence of several floods prior to that date, all which appear to have been caused by local rains. Some streamflow rec- ords on the upper tributaries of the Yazoo River have been kept since 1928, but, in general, no complete coverage was instituted until about 1939. In the lower Yazoo River Basin, streamflow records on the Yazoo River are available for two periods (1908-13 and 1928-48), totalling 27 years. However, stage records only have been kept on the Yazoo River at Greenwood and on the Tallahatchie River at Swan Lake since 1904 and on the Yazoo River at Yazoo City since 1885. On the basis of these records, supplemented by information obtained from local resi- dents, it is evident that the February 1948 flood was the maximum known on the upper Tallahatchie, on the Yalobusha, and on the Yocona Rivers. Inasmuch as only moderate rainfall took place in the Coldwater River Basin, no record-breaking floods occurred in that area. The February 1948 flood was well covered in all river basins in North Mississippi with respect to both streamflow and precipitation. Flood damage in the affected area was high and transportation facili- ties by highway and rail were interrupted at many places. Joint U.S. Highways 45E and 82 were overflowed by as much as three feet for a distance of three miles west of Columbus. State Highway 25 was closed at Aberdeen and Amory. Floodwaters of the East Fork Tombigbee River washed out two relief bridges on U.S. Highway 78 west of Fulton. U.S. Highway 45E was closed in the vicinity of Nettleton, because of over- flow by the West Fork of Tombigbee River. Three of the five principal highways into Grenada were closed by overflow by the Yalobusha River: U.S. Highway 51 and State Highway 7 to the north, and State Highway 8 to the east. Disruption of transportation over county highways closed schools for many days. More than 500 county bridges were damaged or destroyed by floodwaters. Hundreds of families were eva- cuated from their homes when rivers overflowed the lowlands. The Lowndes County Chapter, American Red Cross, evacuated a total of 565 families in that county at a cost of $15,400. Agricultural damage was not high because the flood came prior to the planting season. Pre- liminary estimates by the Weather Bureau indicate the damages may have exceeded three million dollars in the Yazoo Basin alone. 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