Streambank changes were examined after the Kansas flood of 1993. Aerial photography was used to determine the relationship of streambank stability to natural riparian vegetation, stream channel morphology, and soil type. The flooding that occurred that summer along river courses in the central plains of the United States was considered in the magnitude of a 100- to 500-year flood. Water flooded riverbanks and farmlands for a 2-month period. Lateral streambank erosion was related significantly to vegetative cover and soil types. Erosion was greatest on cropland and minimal on the forested streambanks, and was greater on sandy than on silty soils. Channel configuration or the interaction of soils with either cover type or channel configuration influenced lateral erosion on one river system but not the other. The flood was so large that the water flowed over the banks for great distances much of the time.