Flood Chronicles 1937

Ironton Register, Jan 28, 1937

Shifting our sobs and turning our faces from the wreckage of homes and businesses, the heroic people of Ironton, Coal Grove, Hanging Rock, and other communities smothered under the deluge of Ohio’s rushing waters will begin at once the mighty task of reconstruction.

The loss in Ironton runs into millions of dollars. Still, there prevails a spirit of mutual helpfulness that grew out of the disaster, and from the ruins will emerge a greater and a better Ironton and a greater Ohio Valley. Only those who faced the menace of the encircling and engulfing tide realize the fear that gripped the hearts of every person in the path of the seething wall of water, the most destructive force at the command of the elements. Residents of the higher ground, never before touched by the massive floods in the Ohio Valley in 1884 and 1913, saw the encroaching fingers of the deluge grasp them and damage and destroy their properties.

Never before were the utilities put to a greater test, and never was the response so noble. Gas services were maintained as long as humanly possible; water was supplied long after the pumping station was submerged, and the life-saving current of electricity never failed. For that, we are thankful. Had all the agencies of heat and light been destroyed, the grim monsters—famine and cold would have levied a heavy toll.

With the waters receding, we must combat disease, and all of us must follow the directions of the health department. There will be a great supply of serums for anti-toxic, typhoid prophylaxis, etc., and every precaution must be taken to prevent an epidemic outbreak that would cost hundreds of our people.

 It is our earnest prayer that the receding waters have written across the nation a scroll of the necessity of an immense program of flood control for this rich valley, whose safety and growth, and prosperity are so essential to the national welfare. Every agency in the land should stress the importance of immediate action so that the disaster of 1937 never again be repeated.

FACTS FROM THE 1937 FLOOD