There was a documentary on I beleive the Discovery Channel outling this very thing.
Also the 93 floods on the upper Mississippi deserve comment.
All the best minds said that they had the Ole Muddy under control.
NOT, the river will do what it wants to do and cannot be controlled over the long term.
Big Muddy is an awesome thing in full flood.
It's worth sitting down on the levee at New Orleans and look out across the river to Algiers in the spring, when the water is high, and see all the energy in that river. Lots of power. Lots of energy. Lots of current.
Even nowadays, they can't totally control her. She is an uneasy dragon, and cannot be truly tamed.