Brazos River Levee

Destructive flooding along the Brazos River repeatedly afflicted residents of Burleson County. In 1899, a 30-inch rain killed 35 people and caused about $9 million in property damage, and serious flooding struck Brazos River bottom inhabitants again in 1900, 1902, and 1908. In 1909, W.S. Mial and 49 other citizens asked the county commissioners to build levees along the Brazos to protect valuable farmland, and in July of that year voters unanimously approved bonds and higher taxes to pay the debt. Contractors Roach and Stansell then built a 9-foot levee extending south for 30 miles. Its major test came in December 1913, when a storm worse than the 1899 flood struck. Residents, relying on the levees for safety, delayed fleeing until the water had risen dangerously, only to discover that the levee trapped water and then broke, releasing a wall of destruction with no escape. People survived on roofs and in treetops, but 180 died and property losses reached $8 million. Still convinced of the levees' value, voters approved reconstruction bonds in 1914, and the debt was not retired until 1963, long after modern flood-control methods had made the area safe.

Texas · United States