FACTBOX: Some major floods in the United States
(Reuters) - Overflowing rivers in Iowa and other Midwest U.S. states forced evacuations and disrupted the region's economy on Friday with fears of worse to come from fragile levees and more rain.
Following are some major floods to hit the United States:
* In June 2006, floods killed at least 16 people in the eastern United States. Authorities ordered hundreds of thousands of people evacuated in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Damage estimates exceeded $1 billion.
* In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and devastated the Gulf Coast, causing more than 1,800 deaths. The $125 billion in damage made it the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.
* In 1998, flooding and deadly tornadoes swept through central, southern and eastern Texas, causing 31 deaths and prompting the evacuation of 14,000 people. Flooding was reported in 60 counties -- about one-fourth of the state. Damage estimates exceeded $1 billion.
* In 1993, floods ravaged nine Midwestern states, killing 48 people and leaving nearly 70,000 people homeless. The cost of flood damage was estimated at $21 billion. The Mississippi River on August 1 crested in St. Louis at a record 49.4 feet.
* In 1972, Tropical Storm Agnes dumped 8 inches to 16 inches of rain over a large portion of upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, with some locations receiving nearly 20 inches of rain in three days. The storm killed 122 people and caused over $3 billion in damage.
* In 1969, Hurricane Camille's torrential rains struck mountainous west and central Virginia. Sixty-seven people were reported dead and 106 missing after floods virtually washed out towns in the mountains.
* In 1927, levees built to contain the Mississippi River broke, and a wall of water pushed its way across Midwestern farmlands. The flood covered 27,000 square miles (69,920.000 sq km), an area about the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont combined. The flood killed about 1,000 people and displaced some 700,000 more. At a time when the entire federal budget was barely $3 billion, it caused an estimated $1 billion in damage.
* In 1889, more than 2,200 people died in Johnstown, Pennsylvania when the South Fork dam broke after days of heavy rain. The town was destroyed within minutes by a wall of water that rushed down a narrow valley.
Sources: Reuters/National Climatic Data Center/www.AccuWeather.com/www.2facts.com/www.pbs.org/ www.usnews.com/www.pubs.usgs.gov
(Writing by Paul Grant, Washington Editorial Reference Unit)
