The flood began with extremely heavy rains in the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926 . By September , the Mississippi 's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity . On Christmas Day of 1926 , the Cumberland River at Nashville , Tennessee , exceeded , a level that remains a record to this day , higher than the devastating 2010 floods
devastating 2010 floods
2010 Tennessee floods
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927