http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flood/timeline/timeline2.html
The Great Flood of 1927
January 1: In Cairo, Illinois, the first of multiple crests breach flood stage on the Mississippi River. The river appears to be on the verge of flooding, but the Mississippi River Commission still insists the levees will hold.
March: Huge swells on the Mississippi River move downstream and reach the Delta. Heavy rains fall on the Delta throughout March and continue into April. Some white residents of Greenville, especially women and children, flee the area and head north.
March and April: LeRoy Percy and other plantation owners send their farm hands to raise the height of Washington County levees. Other African Americans in the area are pressed into work gangs to heighten and fortify the levees. Police round up African Americans in town at gun point and send them to the levee. Convicts are also pressed into action, and altogether a gang of 30,000 men work to save the levee.
April 15, Good Friday: Rains pelt Washington County, and Greenville receives 8.12 inches. The storm covers several hundred square miles, and counties along the Mississippi receive anywhere from 6 to 15 inches of rainfall.
LeRoy Percy and other town leaders gather at the home of Seguine Allen, chief engineer of the Mississippi Levee Board in Greenville, to discuss whether the levee will hold.
The rest of the story is available through that link
Read the recent Newsweek. Its off the chains plus my brother is on pg.36. Hes the onlyblack guy in the pic! They talk about this issue in there, plus the issues with race and poverty in America and NO.
