The Eel and other area rivers had flooded several times in the 19th century and again in 1915 and 1937. The massive inundation that hit the area in the winter of 1955 was declared by experts to be the “1,000-year flood.” It inundated farmlands and towns and completely wiped two communities off the map — Dyerville and Elinor. It was partly this attribution, the belief that they had already experienced the worst flood in 1,000 years, that led many area residents to discount the initial forecast of dangerous flood conditions in late December 1964.