Flood refugees on the levee in Greenville. The Flood of 1927 was described by US Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover as the greatest peace-time calamity in the history of the country. It inundated 16,570,627 acres (about 26,000 square miles) in 170 counties and parishes in seven states, driving an estimated 931,159 people from their homes. Washtubs, work benches, household furniture, chickens and domestic animals went floating by.". The boys rescued the chickens and placed them on a scaffold out of the water. Evangeline Parish is also served by the Diocese of Lafayette with one school: Additionally, Evangeline Parish is served by one unaffiliated private school: Evangeline Parish is served by one institutions of higher education: The 1086th Transportation Company of the 165th CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion resides in Ville Platte, Louisiana. They're tyrin' to wash us away. As the water rose in the Mississippi River and levees broke in other states, all indications were that 1927 would be one of the worst years for flooding. The event, called simply the Great Flood of 1927, would change Louisiana forever. Refine results. Some people got lost in the flood. Renee Montagne talks to Newman about Louisiana 1927. Photograph of map by Princella W. Nowell. All Rights Reserved. The May 6, 1927, Daily Advertiser asked Catholic church goers in St. Martinville, Parks and Breaux Bridge to volunteer that Sunday and a special Mass would be held at 4 a.m. to accommodate the volunteers, Bradshaw wrote. All rights reserved. The song is written in the style of a lament, and is performed at a slow tempo. "We stretched those bags from Grayling Lane down South Grand to Oxen Dam," he recalled. The men feared that if they allowed this labor force to leave they might not return. Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline. . Great Flood of 1927 - 64 Parishes For more on Katrina's aftermath, go to our Web site, npr.org. WERTHEIMER: Were there any prominent politicians who vanished without a trace because of the way they handled the flood? 15 The worst Good Friday I ever saw. The median age was 34 years. The Evangeline Oak during the 1927 flood. Red Cross volunteers served about 50,000 meals a day in Lafayette alone, Mouton wrote. In some places, great mounds of sand covered fields and streets. (This piece initially aired on Sept. 9, 2005, on Morning Edition.) The majority of the area was originally settled by French Canadian colonists and former colonial marines (coureurs de bois) from such outposts as Fort Toulouse and Fort Kaskaskia and later included 19th-century French-speaking soldiers and immigrant families. Too dark to write, another big storm coming noon. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km 2) inundated in depths of up to 30 feet (9 m) over the course of several months in early 1927. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Martin Parish line on May 19; Breaux Bridge and St. Martinville in St. Martin Parish two days later; then New Iberia and Jeanerette in Iberia Parish; and Franklin and Morgan City in St. Mary Parish. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19. As word spread about the mistreatment of Black people in the levee camps, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, who served as chairman of a special committee to coordinate all flood relief efforts, created the Colored Advisory Committee to look into the allegations and named Robert Moton from the Tuskegee Institute to head it. WERTHEIMER: John Barry is the author of "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America." Kid that I was, I yelled when I heard the fire whistle, Hotdog! Adding to their anger, a natural breach of the levees subsequently eased pressure on the New Orleans levee; the blasting had been unnecessary. Mr. BARRY: Yeah, that's correct, and the idea is very comparable to simply pulling the plug out of the bathtub. They felt that it was wrong, and looking at this, I think, created a real change in the way Americans as a people viewed the role of the government's responsibility toward individuals. That flood dumped as much as 30 feet of water on land from Illinois and Missouri down to the Gulf of Mexico. Residents raced to the railroad embankment, the only remaining high ground, the rescue train stranded and of no help. Each institution contributes the digital items and the descriptive text for their collections. Snead, J., P. V. Heinrich, and R. P. McCulloh, 2002, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 14:35. Elizabeth Clutchett was 15 at the time. Those who were less experienced immediately began fleeing the area by train and continued to do so until the tracks became unusable. The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines. All had been promised full compensation for their losses, but the lucky ones would get an average of only $274 each, and thousands of them would get nothing. Local officials called in the National Guard to keep order. Most settled for pennies on the dollar, and practically all of them remembered that it was a man-made catastrophe that put them where they were. The parish was created in 1910. Mr. JOHN BARRY (Author, "Rising Tide"): You're welcome. Aaron Neville Lyrics "Louisiana 1927" (originally by Randy Newman) What has happened down here Is the winds have changed Clouds roll in from the north And it started to rain It rained real hard, and It rained for a real long time Six feet of water In the streets of Evangeline The river rose all day The river rose all night The early generations were born in colonial French colonies, which included the enormous Louisiana territory ('Upper and Lower' Louisiana) known as "la Nouvelle France", and later were born under Spanish rule. A weather system that stalled over the Midwestern states in the fall of 1926 brought untold amounts of water to the Upper Mississippi River region. [11], As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 35,434 people, 12,736 households, and 9,157 families living in the parish. Both caused disruptions of life in southern Louisiana for thousands of people that arguably could be outranked only by the destruction caused during the Civil War. That nobody would care if they were to disappear tomorrow. Public Schools in Evangeline Parish are operated by the Evangeline Parish School Board. And they didn't write about it. Lauren Ashlee Messina's 'Louisiana Flood Stories: 1927' runs at CAC WERTHEIMER: Herbert Hoover was President Coolidge's secretary of Commerce in 1927, so he was the man in charge of rescue operations. Males had a median income of $30,386 versus $16,793 for females. They're tryin' to wash us away. Arkansas Flood of 1937 rivaled Mississippi River flood of 1927 John M. Barry's book describes a natural disaster that has faded a bit in the national memory. The Evangeline Oak during the 1927 flood - 64 Parishes The Flood Control Act of 1928 authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build levees, diversions and spillways for flood control. They migrated by the thousands to Chicago, Detroit, and other northern cities, changing the urban landscape in those places. Information about the Louisiana Digital Consortium can be found here: http://louisianadigitalconsortium.org. Also touched upon is the callous response of the federal government, depicted here via a fictional visit from President Calvin Coolidge and "a little fat man," where Coolidge's reaction to the devastation is a detached statement that, "isn't it a shame what the river has done to this poor cracker's land. Here's the latest on Hurricane Katrina. Ewing, Jasper G. Flood damageLouisiana. Aunt Ruby lost her fruit and nut trees, purple plums, peaches and apples along with an English walnut tree which was an oddity of this particular section of the country. The event, called simply the Great Flood of 1927, would change Louisiana forever. . And that was because of the elite, aristocratic planter class, who did feel a certain noblesse oblige toward their sharecroppers, but they didn't let that interfere with a fairly ruthless sense of dollars. Subscribe. You never know where WUNC's events will take you. Louisiana, Louisiana. (You can unsubscribe anytime), Courtesy of Center for Louisiana Studies at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, The Evangeline Oak during the 1927 flood. With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand. Through the early spring of 1927, the rains continued and the flood pushed downriver toward Louisiana. A few Acadians such as Franois Pitre and his wife settled the area between Evangeline and St. Landry parishes, preferring the rich pre-American and pre-Civil War era Cajun planter's lifestyle over that of the humble and isolated existence of their Acadiana cousins. "Louisiana 1927" is a 1974 song written and recorded by Randy Newman on the album Good Old Boys. Courtesy Mississippi Department of Archives and History, accession no. Adding to the excitement was a man on horseback going pell-mell down the street yelling, Go to the levee! Mr. BARRY: He did a magnificent job in managing the logistics of feeding, delivering aid, shelter to 700,000 people, and half of whom were living in tents. Their intention, apparently, was to lower the level of the river and to save the city of New Orleans. 337. Note elevated boardwalks. Each changed both the physical and political face of the region and played a role in national affairs. Mama stood on the steps and agreed to let him wade on the front walk. As the people of Greenville watched the river rise they waited for the fire alarm. Some people got away all right. 57. The floodwaters, however, would still cover the greater portion of the Delta for many more months. "We thought it was a cattle stampede. The congressional response to the devastation, the 1928 Flood Control Act, had far-reaching social, political, and physical consequences in Louisiana and throughout the Mississippi River valley. William Beanland, a civil engineer, was chosen to handle the repair work. Unidentified, One-Year subscription (4 issues) : $20.00, Two-Year subscription (8 issues) : $35.00, 64 Parishes 2023. While these levees prevented flooding for a period, they proved unable to withstand the floodwaters of 1927. On May 12 or 13, the levee at Bayou des Glaises near Cottonport in Avoyelles Parish, north of St. Landry Parish, failed. The Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is composed of collections from many different institutions. 543191 [1] Evangeline is an unincorporated community in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States.
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