Flood in Allamakee, Iowa

The combination of snow melt runoff and heavy rains caused the Mississippi River to rise to levels second only to the all-time record flood of April 1965. At Lansing (Allamakee County), the river crested at 19.9 feet on April 21. Further downstream, McGregor and Guttenberg (Clayton County) crested at 23.8 feet on April 20 and 21.6 feet on April 22 respectively. Considerable damage was done to homes and businesses by the high water, especially in the small towns of Marquette and Guttenberg (Clayton County). Overall damage costs due to the high water were estimated between 4 and 5 million dollars. This resulted in Allamakee and Clayton County being eligible for federal disaster relief funds. Even though the river began falling during the latter part of the month, water levels remained above flood stage until early May.