MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It was deemed the flood of the century.
On May 11, 2011, the Mississippi River rose to historic levels spilling over into portions of the Mid-South. The river crested at 48 feet: the second highest level on record since 1937.
“I lost my trailer with everything in it," Susan Pruitt Carruth Street said. "All the pictures of my grandbabies from day one. I lost a lot of my late husband’s stuff. It was terrible.”
She was one of the many that were hit the hardest by the floodwaters that went 14 feet higher than the flood stage. Her mobile home was located in Frayser between Millington Rd and N Watkins St.
Flood water filled her mobile home going up halfway past the windows. She wouldn't be able to return home for three weeks to see the damage both from the water and looters.
“When we got in there it was black mold everywhere...," she said. “I walked in there. I’m starting to cry now, it brings back memories, but walking in there seeing everything all destroyed. Refrigerator and everything was just toppled over. People busted the door down going inside."
She considers herself one of the lucky few that had flood insurance. Most her neighbors were not as fortunate, she said.
In downtown, water flowed over Riverside Drive inching up to the beginning of Beale Street. The 2011 World Barbeque Cooking Championship was moved from Tom Lee to Tiger Lane.
South, in Mississippi, Tunica casinos were under water, and across the river, West Memphis was also dealing with the flooding.
“In my lifetime I have never seen it that high when you can go to the levee and actually see water a few feet from going across," Mayor Marco McClendon said. "I know if the levees would have broke on our part it definitely would have been hectic here in West Memphis.”
McClendon said the flood wrecked havoc on the drainage system leading to flooding. They couldn't pump the water out of the city due to the high river levels.
West Memphis recently passed a $30 million bond to improve the drainage system to protect the city from flood issues in the event that that river rises again.
