“Biggest flood since ’37 due in city in weeks,” read the main headline in this newspaper on April 25, 2011.

Historically in Vicksburg, three floods are looked at as the benchmark for the river’s fury — 1973 when the water rose to 51.6 feet, the 1937 flood when the levels hit 53.2 feet and the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 when water reached 56.2 feet before the levees gave way. Reports are that the ’27 flood would have reached more than 62 feet — 19 feet above flood stage — if the levees had held.

Hundreds died in the 1927 flood and millions of acres were inundated with water. After spilling over the Louisiana levees, water spread out as far as Monroe — about 75 miles west of Vicksburg. The massive flood, due to extremely heavy rains in the Midwest, displaced an estimated 700,000 and led directly to the creation of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project.

Until 1927, a levees-only approach was used up and down the giant river. Most were built by local levee boards. The 1927 flood exposed the weaknesses in that approach. Of some 300 flood-control proposals submitted, a three-pronged system was adopted. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with major offices at three campuses in Vicksburg, would incorporate floodways, backwater areas and control structures to avoid another 1927.

Those measures, adopted in 1928, were put to the greatest test ever this year. The forecast for 52.5 feet held for one day, then rose a foot and stayed there until May 3 when the forecast called for a 57.5-food crest on the Vicksburg gauge — a level never seen.

Low-lying areas were evacuated as a sea of truck and trailer traffic helped ferry people, animals and belongings out of harm’s way. Local, county, state and Corps officials provided daily briefings. Corps officials traveled the length of the river inspecting levees.

All the while, residents here held onto nervous optimism. At no other time had so much pressure been put on the flood-control systems.

The river crested at 57.1 feet on May 19. The celebrations were tempered. The river still had to recede. The pressure the rising waters had put on the levees continued. The river fell below the 43-foot flood stage on Friday. The levees held. Only one person from the city died — after he unfortunately walked into the water. Property damage, especially in low-lying areas, is substantial.

Overall, the flood of 2011 will go down for the successes and not the failures. The standard for Mississippi River floods was surpassed. The water rose higher than ever before. The decisions by the Corps, often maligned since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, obviously saved lives and property. County and state officials should be lauded as well.

The largest flood in the last 100 years will recede into the history books soon. Future historians will look on the Mississippi River Flood of 2011 in a different light — a thriving success against massive odds.

Many hours of sleep were lost trying to contain a river not accustomed to being contained. Everyone can take a deep breath now and wait for the next rising of the river, hoping the successes of battling this flood will carry over to the next one.

Meanwhile, we take our hats off to the staff of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the engineers of relative safety in our historic flood.