Do you remember the flood myth from the epic Gilgamesh? Or how about the Great Dayton Flood of 1913? The memories of  most people are short indeed.

Do you remember the flood myth from the epic Gilgamesh? Or how about the Great Dayton Flood of 1913? The memories of  most people are short indeed.
For those who experienced the effects of those rising waters of 1993 and the many commercial divers who dealt with its devastating  blow to an entire geographic region, would not be forgotten. The causes of this deluge were comprised of many different circumstances each contributing their own specific purpose which would manifest itself into one of the worst disasters in American history.

The massive amounts of rain dumped throughout the summer covered major areas of the Mississippi River basin and along with an already soaked soil from the rains of July 1992, helped create the perfect conditions to perpetuate this coming catastrophe.1 This along with low summertime evapotranspiration would exacerbate the situation by maintaining  soil moisture values high throughout this period.2 This would all make for a massive construction site that would create thousands of  jobs for commercial divers and all those associated with this industry.


Do you remember the flood myth from the epic Gilgamesh? Or how about the Great Dayton Flood of 1913? The memories of  most people are short indeed.
The smell and feel of muddy water was a symphony of aromas consisting of decomposing vegetation mixed with the putrid smell of standing water and diesel culminating into a brown slime that commercial divers have come to know well and this calamity in the Midwest proved no different. This was the work environment we found ourselves in and the work to be done was extensive.

Many divers like myself  found work on typical ‘suck and pump’ jobs where the flood waters had moved massive amounts of this mud, silt and debris where it was not suppose to be. Whether it was a power plant, mill or other industrial setting there was material that needed to be replaced, concrete structures repaired or complete systems such as locks, dams or both that had  to be constructed.  Other jobs demanded skills such as underwater burning that would be used to clear much of the mangled steel that lied just beneath the surface of  rivers and and flooded areas such as the Mississippi River that had to be removed to make room for new structures.
Do you remember the flood myth from the epic Gilgamesh? Or how about the Great Dayton Flood of 1913? The memories of  most people are short indeed.


One of the larger jobs I was involved with had us diving down around 15-20 feet cutting out much of the old wreckage of a lock and dam structure that was to be replaced with a new one. Burning underwater in river water was an experience all its own. While holding the rod like a cigar with my left hand as a guide, I held the handle and proceeded to cut through a jagged piece of  steel piling that would be removed by a crane. The water around me lit up like a glowing orb along with the portions of the steel and the rod that could cut through most anything. Combined with the brown-greenish river water, it created a very surreal environment for most commercial divers.These flood waters would recede however and give way to the normal way of life that was this region before this devastating occurrence. For all of the divers and those who experienced this quagmire it will stick our memories for years to come, but for most Americans it has long been forgotten as they wait for the next so called ‘worst disaster in history’.