Before any kind of flood control was implemented in this area it didn't take a lot of rain to flood Bigbee and Lusby bottoms. The Tombigbee River could handle a lot of water but Town Creek was almost as big, very crooked with alternate shallow and deep stretches, and when it overflowed and mixed with the Tombigbee about a 30 square mile area would flood. Most of the floods weren't too bad, a couple of feet deep except in the low places, but were a fairly regular occurence. There were between 40 and 50 houses and three stores in the bottom that were built three feet or so off the ground, or on a mound, so flood water wouldn't get in them. Occasionally there would be a more servere flood, and the houses would get flooded with anywhere from a few inches to a foot or so of water, but that was a rare occasion. The flood in November of 1954 changed all of that. It completely changed the bottoms, the lives of the people who lived there, and it initiated local flood control programs that were long overdue.
The first two weeks of that November was warmer than usual and it rained constantly, not enough to overflow the creeks but a lot more than normal. Near the end of the second week a cold front moved into the area and spawned torrential downpours that lasted for four days and the creeks started rising. By the middle of the third week the bottoms were flooded and the water was still rising. Those who lived in the bottoms, with two exceptions, prepared their houses as well as they could by putting everything they thought would be damaged by water on tables, shelves and beds and moved in with relatives who lived on higher ground.
<img src="http://jb-ms.com/Qwikpics/flood.jpg" align="left" vspace="1" hspace="5"/>The two exceptions were Landon Burrow and my Moms oldest brother Lonnie. Landon had built a new house in Lusby Bottom just east of Mud Creek when he came back from WW II, and to be on the safe side he built it a foot or so higher off the ground than the other houses in the bottom. Lonnie was the overseer of the Riggans farm and stayed to try to look after the cattle. Riggans had built several big mounds that ranged in height from six to eight feet in the pastures for the cattle to get on when it flooded but some would always try to go to the barns. Lonnie stayed so he could drive them to the mounds.
On Friday Landons wife got a relative who owned a boat to go and try to get Landon to come out, but he wouldn't leave. Water was only a couple of inches shy of being in his house but he said it was as high as it was going to get and he was staying. He was wrong, that night the water got a foot deep in his floors. By mid morning the next day it was turning colder and the water was over halfway between the floor and the ceiling. Landon climbed into the loft, the water kept rising and it got colder. The next morning, Sunday, about 10 o,clock his wife sent the relative with the boat back. When he got there Landon was sitting on the peak of the roof, the water was within three feet of him and he was ready to go.
As the day passed it kept getting colder, and the water was still rising. That night at 9 o,clock someone brought my aunt to our house and put her out, she was crying and said Lonnie was still in the bottom, that she knew he was in bad shape and wanted my father to find some way to get him out. We got in our car and went to Paul Sisk's house. Paul called Aubrey Rogers and an hour later Mr Rogers and his son Charles got there with a big boat. My mom, aunt and I stayed at the Sisk's, Dad, Paul, Aubrey and Charles left to get Lonnie.
The temperature was in the low 30's by then and it was cloudy, which meant no light other than from the two five cell flashlights Paul took with them. They went to the hill that went down into the bottom, a quarter mile from Paul's house, to put the boat in. From the hill to Frisco railroad was about a mile and half, and the Riggans place was about the same distance south of the railroad. They followed the road to the railroad, easy since there was woods on both sides, but south of the railroad was fields and they were concerned about getting lost in the dark. The water was almost to the top of the railroad levee, but they decided Dad and Aubrey should take one of the flashlights, stay there and use the flashlight as a beacon in case Paul and Charles did get lost. They got out, drug the boat across the railroad and Paul and Charles left to find Lonnie.
When Charles and Paul got to the Riggans farm the water was up to the eaves, and Lonnie was nowhere to be found. They checked the barn loft, shined the flashlight in the trees around the house and yelled nonstop but no Lonnie. They decided he was either already dead or someone else had got him out and started back to get Dad and Aubery, but they got lost. There were no landmarks to be seen. Just water stretching out to the limit the flashlight would shine, and the batteries were getting weak. They began going in ever widening circles and yelling as loud as they could, eventually Dad and Aubrey heard them, waved the flashlight around and yelled back.
It was getting even colder and the water was still rising, and when Paul and Charles finally found the railroad it was 4 a.m., the water was over ankle deep on Dad and Aubrey and both were so cold they were jerking. We were afraid something had happened, that either the boat capsized or they were lost, but they pulled in about 4:30 and except for my aunt we were very happy to see them back. My aunt fell apart when they told her they couldn't find Lonnie, but Mom and Dad talked to her, told her Lonnie was okay and that he probably was picked up by someone else.
That calmed her down some, and although they were only trying to make her feel better it turned out to be true. A man named Bonds, who ran one of the stores in the bottom, had went in and got Lonnie just before dark. All the time Dad and the others were looking for Lonnie, he was looking for his wife.
A few days later, after the water had dropped a couple of feet and the railroad folks thought it was safe to start using it again, a train derailed right where Dad and Aubrey stayed on the railroad. It was pulling several boxcars and two or three car carriers with a total of 12 new 1955 Fords on them. The water was still 10 feet deep or deeper and the cars stayed underwater for almost a week before it went down. The new Fords were sold on the spot to anyone who wanted one for $500 each. Red Smith bought one and had the Ford place in Amory to do whatever it took to make it right, but it gave him all kinds of problems and he didn't keep it long. Some of the boxcars were loaded with canned goods, all of those had disappeared by the time the water got much less than waist deep. One of the boxcars was loaded with "sanitary napkins" for women and toilet paper, all of those washed out and the trees around there were full of both until they rotted away.
The Riggans farm was totally destroyed, all the livestock drowned and it was abandoned. Landon Burr never went back to his house except to salvage what little he could, he sold it to Clinton Ridings and it was moved out of the bottom. Actually, only a few have lived in the bottoms since then. There are only three or four houses in the bottoms now, and most of the land was sold to Weyerhaeuser or the Corp of Engineers. In the spring of 1955 a deep, wide channel was dug for several miles to divert some of the water, that helped, and the Tenn-Tom Waterway took care of the flooding problem. Sadly, Charles Rogers and his twelve year old son drowned a couple of years later when their boat capsized in the Tombigbee river. Their bodies were never recovered but some bones were found a few years later that were thought to be theirs.
The first two weeks of that November was warmer than usual and it rained constantly, not enough to overflow the creeks but a lot more than normal. Near the end of the second week a cold front moved into the area and spawned torrential downpours that lasted for four days and the creeks started rising. By the middle of the third week the bottoms were flooded and the water was still rising. Those who lived in the bottoms, with two exceptions, prepared their houses as well as they could by putting everything they thought would be damaged by water on tables, shelves and beds and moved in with relatives who lived on higher ground.
<img src="http://jb-ms.com/Qwikpics/flood.jpg" align="left" vspace="1" hspace="5"/>The two exceptions were Landon Burrow and my Moms oldest brother Lonnie. Landon had built a new house in Lusby Bottom just east of Mud Creek when he came back from WW II, and to be on the safe side he built it a foot or so higher off the ground than the other houses in the bottom. Lonnie was the overseer of the Riggans farm and stayed to try to look after the cattle. Riggans had built several big mounds that ranged in height from six to eight feet in the pastures for the cattle to get on when it flooded but some would always try to go to the barns. Lonnie stayed so he could drive them to the mounds.
On Friday Landons wife got a relative who owned a boat to go and try to get Landon to come out, but he wouldn't leave. Water was only a couple of inches shy of being in his house but he said it was as high as it was going to get and he was staying. He was wrong, that night the water got a foot deep in his floors. By mid morning the next day it was turning colder and the water was over halfway between the floor and the ceiling. Landon climbed into the loft, the water kept rising and it got colder. The next morning, Sunday, about 10 o,clock his wife sent the relative with the boat back. When he got there Landon was sitting on the peak of the roof, the water was within three feet of him and he was ready to go.
As the day passed it kept getting colder, and the water was still rising. That night at 9 o,clock someone brought my aunt to our house and put her out, she was crying and said Lonnie was still in the bottom, that she knew he was in bad shape and wanted my father to find some way to get him out. We got in our car and went to Paul Sisk's house. Paul called Aubrey Rogers and an hour later Mr Rogers and his son Charles got there with a big boat. My mom, aunt and I stayed at the Sisk's, Dad, Paul, Aubrey and Charles left to get Lonnie.
The temperature was in the low 30's by then and it was cloudy, which meant no light other than from the two five cell flashlights Paul took with them. They went to the hill that went down into the bottom, a quarter mile from Paul's house, to put the boat in. From the hill to Frisco railroad was about a mile and half, and the Riggans place was about the same distance south of the railroad. They followed the road to the railroad, easy since there was woods on both sides, but south of the railroad was fields and they were concerned about getting lost in the dark. The water was almost to the top of the railroad levee, but they decided Dad and Aubrey should take one of the flashlights, stay there and use the flashlight as a beacon in case Paul and Charles did get lost. They got out, drug the boat across the railroad and Paul and Charles left to find Lonnie.
When Charles and Paul got to the Riggans farm the water was up to the eaves, and Lonnie was nowhere to be found. They checked the barn loft, shined the flashlight in the trees around the house and yelled nonstop but no Lonnie. They decided he was either already dead or someone else had got him out and started back to get Dad and Aubery, but they got lost. There were no landmarks to be seen. Just water stretching out to the limit the flashlight would shine, and the batteries were getting weak. They began going in ever widening circles and yelling as loud as they could, eventually Dad and Aubrey heard them, waved the flashlight around and yelled back.
It was getting even colder and the water was still rising, and when Paul and Charles finally found the railroad it was 4 a.m., the water was over ankle deep on Dad and Aubrey and both were so cold they were jerking. We were afraid something had happened, that either the boat capsized or they were lost, but they pulled in about 4:30 and except for my aunt we were very happy to see them back. My aunt fell apart when they told her they couldn't find Lonnie, but Mom and Dad talked to her, told her Lonnie was okay and that he probably was picked up by someone else.
That calmed her down some, and although they were only trying to make her feel better it turned out to be true. A man named Bonds, who ran one of the stores in the bottom, had went in and got Lonnie just before dark. All the time Dad and the others were looking for Lonnie, he was looking for his wife.
A few days later, after the water had dropped a couple of feet and the railroad folks thought it was safe to start using it again, a train derailed right where Dad and Aubrey stayed on the railroad. It was pulling several boxcars and two or three car carriers with a total of 12 new 1955 Fords on them. The water was still 10 feet deep or deeper and the cars stayed underwater for almost a week before it went down. The new Fords were sold on the spot to anyone who wanted one for $500 each. Red Smith bought one and had the Ford place in Amory to do whatever it took to make it right, but it gave him all kinds of problems and he didn't keep it long. Some of the boxcars were loaded with canned goods, all of those had disappeared by the time the water got much less than waist deep. One of the boxcars was loaded with "sanitary napkins" for women and toilet paper, all of those washed out and the trees around there were full of both until they rotted away.
The Riggans farm was totally destroyed, all the livestock drowned and it was abandoned. Landon Burr never went back to his house except to salvage what little he could, he sold it to Clinton Ridings and it was moved out of the bottom. Actually, only a few have lived in the bottoms since then. There are only three or four houses in the bottoms now, and most of the land was sold to Weyerhaeuser or the Corp of Engineers. In the spring of 1955 a deep, wide channel was dug for several miles to divert some of the water, that helped, and the Tenn-Tom Waterway took care of the flooding problem. Sadly, Charles Rogers and his twelve year old son drowned a couple of years later when their boat capsized in the Tombigbee river. Their bodies were never recovered but some bones were found a few years later that were thought to be theirs.
