In spite of levees, however, bad floods still happen. In 1993, the Mississippi flooded, killing dozens of people and leaving 62,000 families homeless. From lake to ocean, the Mississippi is a chain of life and death. A leaf falls in the water. A crawfish eats it.
Larger fish eat the crawfish.
Humans eat the larger fish. A flood wipes out human towns but leave nutrients behind to enrich the soil. New plants grow. They drop their leaves. And life on the Mississippi goes on.