Lee served a second tour of the Philippines as G-2 of the Philippine Department from September 1923 to July 1926 . On returning to the United States , he was posted to Vicksburg , Mississippi , as the District Engineer . This coincided with the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States . Over were flooded , 162,000 homes were damaged and 9,000 homes destroyed . Lee directed relief work , attempts to shore up the levees , and evacuations of towns and districts . The United States Congress responded with the Flood Control Act of 1928 , which provided for improved flood control measures . Lee supervised works on the Red River , Ouachita River and Yazoo River . The legislation moved the headquarters of the Mississippi River Commission from St Louis to Vicksburg , where it was located at the center of the flood area but well above the level of the river . Lee directed the construction of the new headquarters facility , and of the Waterways Experiment Station there
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
John C. H. Lee