Extreme one-day rainfall across the nation has increased 80 percent in the 30 years since the first warnings about Global Warming, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Here that means record floods more often on the Black and Current rivers.
BLACK RIVER
At Poplar Bluff, three of the top four historic floods have occurred in the last 30 years. There have been 17 crests above the 16-foot flood stage in that time. In the 60 previous years, there were 14. Here's a look at the top 5 river levels:
22.15 March 2008
21.96 May 2017
21.68 Dec. 1982
21.41 April 2011
21.10 March 1935
CURRENT RIVER
At Van Buren, six of the top 10 historic floods have occurred in the last 30 years, including the once-in-a-1,000-year flood last spring:
37.20 May 2017
29.00 March 1904
27.39 Nov. 1993
26.53 Nov. 1985
25.90 Aug. 1915
25.71 March 2008
23.12 Dec. 2015
23.00 March 1935
22.83 May 2002
21.14 April 2011