1937 Flood Home Movie Footage. (Cincinnati: floor, station, gas)

[TomJones123]

I though this was crazy to watch. It's still hard to believe that such devastation happened here.


1937 Flood in Cincinnati - Historical Home Movie Footage - YouTube

[kjbrill]

Very impressive footage of the flood. Thanks for posting the link.

The core of engineers built many impoundments on tributaries of the Ohio to slow down runoff in the future. Many of these became recreational areas and parks. The river still hits its flood stage of 52 feet at Cincinnati somewhat frequently but that is a far cry from 80 feet. At 80 feet when you consider how far the river spreads out and up the tributary basins like the Licking, Little and Great Miamis, Whitewater, etc. the volume of water is stupendous. I guess that is why they speak of 100 year floods. From what I read Colorado recently experienced one.

[23145tp]

My father and grandfather helped man rowboats to assist in rescuing people from the 2nd the 3th floor windows from buildings from 4th street south. The rescuers also had to dodge "floating" fires from the leaking gas and diesel fuels that came from punctured fuel tanks.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by 23145tp

My father and grandfather helped man rowboats to assist in rescuing people from the 2nd the 3th floor windows from buildings from 4th street south. The rescuers also had to dodge "floating" fires from the leaking gas and diesel fuels that came from punctured fuel tanks.

There are many good stories from the effects of that flood. Sorry to say, but there were some good aspects in the form of dilapidated buildings being displaced from their foundations requiring demolition. From every disaster some good springs up. Take a forest fire where all of the seeds now exposed to sunlight and moisture explode in new growth.