The diagram illustrates the area surrounding the Blackstone River both before and after a flood. Many elements were swept away by the rising floodwaters.
Before the flood, the river exhibited a bend, with an adjacent vacant lot known as Oxbow. The surrounding area was populated with numerous trees and several houses. Near the end of the river, there were some houses and a bridge spanning the water.
After the flood, however, the river was transformed into a straight section, with the bend reshaped into a separate ‘C’ formation. The trees that once lined the riverbank were washed away, and the vacant lot next to the bend was flooded, becoming a new lake also named Oxbow. Not far from the river’s end, both the houses and the bridge vanished, as if they had never been there. The impact of the flood on the Blackstone River was truly devastating.