Deepest Ohio River Flood on Record at Many Locations!
The Ohio River Great Flood of January 1937 surpassed all prior floods during the previous 175 years of modern occupancy of the Ohio River Valley. The overall scope of the flood surpassed the major floods of 1884 and 1773, and geological evidence suggests the 1937 flood outdid any previous flood. Seventy percent of Louisville was submerged, forcing 175,000 residents to flee.Ninety percent of Jeffersonville, Indiana was flooded. One contemporary source estimated that damage was done to the tune of $250,000,000 (1937 dollars)...that's over $3.3 billion in current dollars!!
At Louisville, the crest of the 1937 flood is still a full ten feet higher than the second highest crest (set in 1945)! At McAlpine Lock, the 1937 flood crested at 85.4 feet. By way of comparison, flood stage is 55 feet.
Louisville received fifteen inches of rain in only 12 days, from the 13th to the 24th of January. Over 19 inches of rain fell over the course of the month. No measurable snow fell during the entire month. The NWS (Weather Bureau) office at the time was located in the Lincoln Building at the corner of Fourth and Market.
We are deeply grateful to have received photos that comprise the Mitchell Collection. These photos of Louisville and Jeffersonville were found in a box in the home of a former resident of Bardstown during the time of the flood. Unfortunately the photos are not annotated, so if you recognize a particular location shown, we'd appreciate it if you could let us know about it.
For additional photos and memorabilia, click the images below to enlarge
Hawesville, Kentucky Flood Map
Leavenworth, Indiana flood map
Lewisport, Kentucky flood map
Churchill Downs on January 27,1937
Total Precipitation Percent of Mean for January 1937
West End of Louisville, January 27, 1937
Houses flipped due to flooding
Dead horse lodged high in trees due to flood waters
Central Station on Seventh Street
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Freight Depot is on the left, with Belknap Hardware on the right. This was on First Street at the river.
A comparison of flooding from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and flooding in Louisville from the great flood
Pictured on the right are a letter and the envelope it was mailed in, from a sailor (Albert Fisher) who came to Louisville to help during the flood. It gives an amazing insight to the event, from someone who was actually there. The first page of the letter (the left-hand image below) begins, "I could not resist the call for aid here..." Click on each image for a much larger version to read the letter and its envelope. (Many thanks to Brian Plain for sending us these great finds!)
Do you remember the Flood of '37? Do you have any old photos? Feel free to share them with us!
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