The worst natural disaster in the history of Cincinnati left families without homes and without basic needs such as food, water, and electricity. However, it is remembered through the way the community came together to overcome the flood and help their neighbors.
1. Funds were collected to rebuild and repair damaged homes and public structures, and volunteers teamed up to bring the city back.
2. Nearly one of every eight people in the tri-state were left homeless.
3. At least 10 gas tanks exploded and there were oil fires on the Ohio River.
"Black Sunday" Gas tanks ruptured near Mill Creek that took firefighters over 12 hours to put out. Photo provided by Phil Lind
4. Rainfall fell in just a 12 day period, from January 13-24, with a total of 80 inches.
5. Today, a scale marking the heights of floodwaters that have reached its walls since 1800. The flood of 1937 stands the highest at 80 feet, with the flood of 1884 coming in at a close second at 71 feet.
Riverside St. Rose Church scale shows how high the water got on the church during each major flood.
6. Seventy-five million dollars in damages had been caused, and that was in 1937 when one dollar was equivalent to twelve dollars now. The damages would be equal to nearly one billion dollars today.
7. The home plate at Crosley Field, home of the Cincinnati Reds, was submerged 20 feet during the Ohio River flooding.
8. When Duke Energy was going around the tristate to fix power outages and gas leaks, they consumed 3,000 sandwiches daily and 200 gallons of coffee.
Delhi Historical Society's exhibit, United by High Water: The Great Flood of 1937 opens Friday, April 28 at 7pm.
For more amazing pictures and documents relating to the 1937 flood visit one of the sources below!
http://www.weather.gov/iln/1937OhioRiverFlood
http://www.lib.niu.edu/2002/ihy020227.html
http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=14943
http://illumination.duke-energy.com/articles/workers-powered-hope-and-lights-during-1937-flood
http://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16998coll11