The Great Flood Of 1993 Devastated Communities From Iowa To Missouri, And One Man Who Claims To Be Innocent Has Spent 30 Years Behind Bars After He Was Accused Of Being Responsible
One of the most devastating floods in United States history is the Great Flood of 1993, and a man from Missouri named James Scott was accused of being responsible for it. He has spent 30 years in prison paying for the consequences, but throughout his entire sentence, he has claimed to be innocent.
In 1992, a combination of heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the water levels of the Missouri and Upper Mississippi River basins to be abnormally high. Eventually, the current became so strong that it overwhelmed the levees, which were designed to hold back the river.
This led to extensive flooding from Iowa to Missouri, destroying thousands of homes and causing major damage to farmland. Although more than 1,000 levees were blown out during the Great Flood, Scott was accused of tampering with one of them.
He was 24 years old in 1993 and had joined a sandbag crew to help control the rising waters. One day, he was loading bags up when he discovered a breach. He threw more bags around the area, but it didn’t really help, and there was nothing more he could do about it.
Later that day, the levee failed, and the Mississippi River burst through. As a result, a boat crashed into a gas station, triggering an explosion. People were left stranded, and the surrounding region was submerged in water.
Authorities were suspicious of Scott because he had inspected the levee two hours before the catastrophe occurred. He told the police that he had removed sandbags to identify the problem, but a witness claimed that Scott had told a different story to his friends.
Apparently, Scott’s wife worked at a restaurant on the other side of the river. If she became stranded, he could “party” and go fishing.
So, he was accused of deliberately tampering with the infrastructure of the levee, allowing water to rush in, killing 47 people, and causing estimated losses of up to $20 billion. Scott was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.
Scott is now in his fifties and has spent the past three decades in the Jefferson City Correctional Center. Throughout the years, he has maintained his innocence. There is ongoing debate about whether Scott is really guilty.
oobqoo – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
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During his trial, prosecutors argued that he had removed the plastic sheets covering the levee and dug through the sand so water could flow through.
He was found guilty based on circumstantial evidence and testimony from witnesses. However, others state there were no actual witnesses to the crime, and the evidence was unreliable.
Scott has been retried for his crime and convicted again. Since 2011, he has been awaiting a parole hearing that keeps getting rescheduled. Now, a hearing is supposed to take place in July 2026.
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