Flood of 1922 devastates Cape Girardeau

Southeast Missouri has experienced flooding of the Mississippi River hundreds of times since at least 1844. The marks on the floodwall in Cape Girardeau denote flood stage heights in 1844, 1943, 1973, and 1993.

One that is not listed is the flood that occurred in April 1922. Rains swept through Missouri and other states on April 10. This deluge caused tornadoes, property damage, deaths, and subsequent area flooding.

The following day, downtown streets and businesses in Cape Girardeau were flooded. Water Street, aptly named, was "a solid sheet of water." The Frisco Railroad had water over the tracks. One train, like the one pictured, chugged its way through a foot of water.

Just south of town, farm fields were covered in four inches of water for several days.

Heavy rain continued to fall in St. Louis and Illinois over the next several days. The waters continued to rise further into downtown, lapping its way to businesses on Main and Themis streets. Residents stacked sandbags outside of local businesses and moved goods to higher ground. The Frisco station and business owners moved their goods to higher ground.

According to the April 22 issue of the Southeast Missourian, residents of Neely's Landing were without bread for three days.

East Cape Girardeau and other towns in Southern Illinois were not as fortunate. Levees broke in the Illinois towns of Ware and McClure causing at least two feet of water to inundate farm fields and buildings.

Finally, on April 26, nearly three weeks after the initial rain, the Mississippi River slowly receded. The water rose to 38 feet which was just below the 1844 stage of 42 feet.

Additional photographs of this flood are in the Debra Holley Photographs (CG0028) at the State Historical Society of Missouri-Cape Girardeau.