James Scott: The Man Who ''Caused'' A Flood

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In 1993, 24-year-old James Scott was found guilty of intentionally causing a flood so bad that it flooded over 14,000 acres of farmland

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Known as 'The Great Flood of 1993', the catastrophe in Missouri that lasted 4 months, racked up more than $15 billion in damages

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Notably, Scott was working with a sandbag crew near Hannibal to help control the rising floodwaters

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On July 16, as he was loading bags onto a massive levee, he discovered a breach and threw a few sand bags around the trouble spot

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At 8 p.m. that day, the levee failed and the Mississippi River burst through its main stem

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People were stranded on both sides of the river, and the town was submerged in water

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Scott admitted he moved sandbags before the levee break but said he did it to help

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However, witnesses said he did so because he wanted to strand his wife in Missouri so he could party in Illinois without her

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He was accused of tampering with the levee infrastructure and ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison

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To this day, Scott maintains his innocence. Since 2011, he has been waiting for a parole hearing without success

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After being rescheduled multiple times, he says a hearing is now set to take place in July 2026

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