Mile 924.0 - RBD Dorena Crevasse

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

924 RBD Dorena Crevasse

The word "crevasse" comes from an Old French word, "crevace," which meant a crevice, fissure, or crack. From the French settlers on the lower reaches of the Mississippi, American planters learned to apply the word to a breach in the levee system. Before 1928, the cry of "Crevasse! Crevasse!" was heard all too frequently on the Lower Mississippi. Every inhabitant of the valley knew that it meant that the levee had broken, that the flood waters were pouring over the land, and that their lives and their property were in grave danger. Often people had to run for their lives, sometimes taking refuge on rooftops or in trees, and waiting for days to be rescued.

During the great flood of 1927, local residents around the rural community of Dorena, Missouri, were extremely concerned about their levees. On April 16, 1927, John Clifft went out just before dawn to take a look at a section of the levee that had appeared to be in poor condition the day before. He had just decided that it looked much better when

he noticed a small stream of water pouring in through the base of the embankment. Clifft ran for help, and the flood fighters gathered rapidly to try to stop the flow.

It was already too late; a short while later a whole section of the levee collapsed and John Clifft watched as the water poured through the breach, tearing down trees, sweeping over buildings, and snatching up chickens, pigs, and calves and whirling them away. Clifft heard later that the raging sea of flood water had demolished a schoolhouse 15 miles inland from the crevasse. New Madrid, Missouri, was inundated by the crevasse water from Dorena, and on April 29 it was reported that the water inside the city levee was 1.5 feet higher than the river water outside the levee. Dorena was one of many crevasses in 1927. Since the mainline levee system was built in 1928, no crevasses have been experienced at Dorena, but the community still suffers occasionally from backwater floods when major floods cause the water to back into the lower part of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. (From Braggs: Historic Names)

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