Higginsport. Texas flood – 1913 The Guadalupe and Trinity Rivers left their banks, and the Brazos River and the Colorado River joined to flood more than 3,000 square miles of land and cause the deaths of at least 177 people and massive property damage ($3,436,144 in the Brazos Valley alone). The flood caused the Brazos river to change course. It now entered the Gulf of Mexico at Freeport, Texas. Major flooding brought death and destruction of greater magnitude than previously experienced. The floods of 1913 and again in 1921 were the catalyst that would cause the state of Texas to attempt to tame the Brazos River. Southern California floods - January 1916 During early 1916, heavy rains caused floods throughout Southern California, virtually cutting off San Diego County from the rest of the state for the greater part of a month. Due to the floods 28 people died and about ten million dollars in damages were caused, with the greatest losses occurring in San Diego County, where twenty-two people died mostly in Otay River valley when the Lower Otay Dam failed, releasing the contents of the Lower Otay Reservoir. Another estimate, was that fifty lives were lost in San Diego County. Among the dead was an early Japanese American colony. San Diego residents blamed the floods on Charles Hatfield who was hired by the city of San Diego to create rain. Southeast floods – July 1916 On July 5–6, 1916, a tropical cyclone swept across the Mississippi coast, which caused torrential rains across it and adjacent states; rains from this storm affected Southern states as far north as North Carolina and Tennessee. Another tropical storm passed over Charleston, South Carolina, during the morning of July 14, 1916, and passed to the northwest. It hit the Carolinas hard, especially western North Carolina (July 15) and northwestern South Carolina. All previous records for 24-hour rainfalls were exceeded, and rivers and streams throughout the area rose past all previously recorded levels. The resulting flooding was disastrous, and approximately 80 people were killed and property damage was estimated at 25 million dollars. Ohio River flood – February 1918 Ice jams due to a quick thaw led to this flood. The river stage at Cincinnati climbed to near during the event. Ice blocks in the river destroyed steamboats on the river, ending the era of steamboat commerce on the Ohio River. Decade of the 1920s