As the new year of 1927 dawned, the rain had not seemed to slow down, as the water began to creep over the levees in Illinois and sent water pressure down south of the river. It was the beginning of April when the situation became a red flag for agencies and services, including the Louisiana National Guard, around the state as the waterways were rapidly increasing in height and pressure. The Northeast levees of Louisiana were the first to surrender to the muddy debris, and news spread like wildfire. An 8-year-old James H. Wilkerson recalls, “Seeing the dirty brown water snaking through the grass and palmettos was sufficient to make cold chills run up and down one's spine.” The water crept through Monroe, building up to the porches of different houses, and people were using boats to try to move around. Red Cross and the National Guard were working tirelessly to evacuate those trapped in the mess; however, despite their efforts, the levee near Greenville, Mississippi crumbled in the early hours of the day, only furthering the flush of deadly water. Volunteers were working around the clock to create support for the levees that lied amongst the Atchafalaya River; but as the days went, two more disastrous breaches occurred by Avoyelles Parish and Bayou Courtableau. As the night fell on May 16th, officials in Melville gave the call that people were urged to leave at all costs, as trains came to pull out thousands of people of the area, some stayed with their property.
The following day, an eye-witness named Robert Haspel recalls that, “Everything was flooded. First time anybody had ever seen anything like that,” as sirens sounded, the water tore open the levees and brought the force of the raging current with it. Residents rushed out into the streets with only family in hand, buildings were swept from their foundations, officials began screaming across the city for people to reach higher ground for safety. The surge through the levees was so intense that it split, going West sweeping away farm land as it came, followed by a North current taking out parts of the railroad, and lastly, a Southern current came and swept away everything in its path. Evacuations were at large as the areas became submerged in deadly water, with range from houses to animals floating in the current. As the outpouring continuously spilled in, taking away homes, families, pets, industrial businesses and more, there was nothing that human services could do but try to ensure the safety of as many civilians as possible. It left the region submerged, displaced, and confused on as to what is the next step in recovery, as the waters did not subside for another two whole months.
As the flood impacted states stretching from Illinois to Louisiana, the statistics recorded along with people displaced, miles covered, and hundreds of deaths give right to the name of this flood. After the flood subsided, it was clear that upwards of 26,000 square miles were engulfed in the swamp waters, across seven states. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave with little to no warning of what was coming, or time to bring valuables. People were promised reimbursement, but it never came, and devastation began to set in, and even at the time a young boy, Robert Haspel remembers going to see the crevasse on a boat, “And it was really, it was one of the most devastating things I’ve ever seen. Burned in my memory, which I’ll never forget, was we went and stood on the levee, pretty far back, because it was being swept away.” It was seen that throughout the sixteen million acres submerged, nearly 650,000 people had been displaced. The statistics of the water can be seen as incomparable to others in history as there were points where the river had swelled to around eighty miles wide, and at times areas were submerged in over thirty feet of water. As most of Lafayette remained safe, it became a housing city for more than 25,000 refugees that Red Cross had rescued, serving them food and shelter for the time-being. However, this was not the case for parishes nearby, as, “…about 81 percent of St. Landry Parish was inundated, while about sixty seven percent of the land in Iberia and St. Martin parishes going under water.” This flood critically impacted the cultural standpoint as well. This effect was seen when African Americans, as more than half a million of those who lost their homes, were uprooted from their work or communities, began to move north. Since they were laborers, they felt disrespected and as if they did not receive the same treatment as those not of color. This correlated to the fear that these laborers could not return to the railroads or plantations in which they worked at, due to African American families making up three-fourths of the work force of labor. In order to not lose these refugees, these railroad and plantation owners paired with Red Cross to create temporary camps in places like Baton Rouge and Lafayette to house the people. However, complaints formed about treatment of the colored people, in which there where more than 200,000 African Americans being held in these places. Hundreds of people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of families lost their homes, workplaces, or more, businesses were torn down, and people were left with nowhere to go.
The recovery chapter of the flood of 1927 was a long, difficult, and strung out process
due to the water being so high and taking so long to subside. The government was essentially
looked at immediately to bring these people their lives back; moreover, this became a great
reason as to why Red Cross built homes and serving resources to those struggling such as food,
housing items, water, and more. States began to join together for the reconstruction of all
affected areas, banks were asked to lend financial support to those in need especially farmers.
Furthermore, the flood was used as a favoring opportunity in politics, as the flood showed that
levee policy was too weak, leading to the Flood Control Act of 1928 which allowed for
engineers to construct stronger levees, diversion and spillways, in which still stand today. The first structure was the “Bonnet Carre Spillway” which is used to divert water in other directions. Political actions during this recovery period gave large recognition to Herbert Hoover, who was soon elected into office due to his rescuing techniques and orders during the disaster. However, he did lose office due to harsh treatment of the African Americans residing in the camps made for them. Moreover, the economical aspect of these states is believed to have taken the largest toll from the catastrophe. Between the losses of houses, businesses, farms, and overall land, the economy sunk to an unseen place, residing in banks to give loans out to try to bring stability to those who seemingly lost everything. The Great Flood of 1927, over time, portrayed changes in both political and social elements of the country. An example is the African Americans turning themselves against the Republican Party due to how the presidents during the time treated them.