Holding Back the Waters: The Upper Mississippi Flood of 1965

The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast

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In April 1965, the Upper Mississippi River surged to heights never before recorded, threatening to swallow entire towns whole. This episode plunges you into the chaos as the perfect storm—deep snowpack, torrential rain, and frozen ground—transformed America's greatest river into an unstoppable force.

Journey from the imperiled bridges of Minneapolis to the desperate fight for survival in Winona, where 1.3 million sandbags stood between 15,000 homes and the raging river. Experience the flood through the eyes of those who lived it—teenage volunteers working feverishly for $1.50 an hour, the Navy veteran who crawled through sewers to prevent catastrophic explosions, and the stubborn river dweller who, after losing everything declared, "Custer's last stand is over."

With 40,000 people displaced, 19 lives lost, and damages exceeding $1 billion in today's dollars, the 1965 flood rewrote the relationship between river communities and the upper Mississippi. Yet most Americans know little about this watershed disaster.

Don't miss this riveting account of nature's raw power and human resilience in the face of overwhelming odds.