The rainy month of January 1937 would go on to permanently alter the landscape of the Ohio Valley, not that anyone knew it at the time.
Major floods had been somewhat common along the Ohio River at the time. River gauges measured flood levels above 60 feet at least six times in the two decades prior, each time causing disastrous situations for residents.
It was on this date, January 26, 1937, 89 years ago today, that river gauges reached 79.9 feet in Cincinnati, Ohio, the highest ever recorded.
The river had been creeping up for weeks. A record-setting rainfall of 13.68 inches, more than the city of Cincinnati has ever seen in a month since, pushed the situation over the edge.
The flooding created a disaster that stretched across the Ohio Valley, submerging more than seventy percent of Louisville, Kentucky.
Among the unique records of the flood is adiarykept by Marion Groh, an Ohio resident who took daily notes about waters rising around her family's home.
On January 26, she wrote, "This afternoon we all walked across the K. & I. Bridge. The sound of the rushing water was equal to Niagara Falls. Houses and all sorts of objects including, I am told, a live horse, are floating down."
One estimate at the time put the damage to the region at $250 million. Adjusted for inflation today, that would be more than $5.5 billion in damages.
In the end, what altered the landscape of the Ohio Valley was not the flood itself, but what came after. Later that year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wouldorderthe construction of flood protections to be built in Ohio by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Almost 80 reservoirs would go to be built in the region, changing the drainage area of the Ohio River and protecting residents for generations to come.
