Flooding overwhelmed northwestern Mississippi in 1912 – 1913 , causing heavy damage to the levee districts . Regional losses and the Mississippi River Levee Association 's lobbying for a flood control bill helped gain passage of national bills in 1917 and 1923 to provide federal matching funds for local levee districts , on a scale of 2:1 . Although U.S. participation in World War I interrupted funding of levees , the second round of funding helped raise the average height of levees in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta to in the 1920s . Scientists now understand the levees have increased the severity of flooding by increasing the flow speed of the river and reducing the area of the floodplains . The region was severely damaged due to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , which broke through the levees . There were losses of millions of dollars in property , stock and crops . The most damage occurred in the lower Delta , including Washington and Bolivar counties
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Mississippi