Ohio River flood of 1937

===Media response===
A handful of powerhouse [[AM Broadcasting|radio]] stations, including [[WLW]] Cincinnati and [[WHAS (AM)|WHAS]] Louisville, quickly switched to non-stop news coverage, transmitting commercial-free for weeks.  These broadcasts consisted mostly of messages being relayed to rescue crews, as many civil agencies had no other means of communication. The [[American scene painting|Regionalist]] painter [[Thomas Hart Benton (painter)|Thomas Hart Benton]] was commissioned by ''[[The Kansas City Star]]'' and ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' newspapers to provide sketches depicting the miserable conditions of the flooded areas in the [[Missouri Bootheel]] region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21026/lot/13/|title=Bonhams : Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) Study for "Spring on the Missouri" 9 x 12in|work=bonhams.com|access-date=August 10, 2015}}</ref>

When it became obvious that the river would cut the electric power to radio station WHAS—thus cutting the last radio voice in Louisville—the rival clear channel station in Nashville, [[WSM (AM)|WSM]], picked up WHAS's broadcast via telephone and broadcast emergency flood reports for three days for the lower Ohio River.  Other stations across the country did much the same.

Around January 18, Huntington, WV radio station WSAZ (1190 AM) began hourly broadcasts of flood related news. On January 22, the station received permission from the Federal Communications Committee to broadcast around the clock. 
The studios and offices in the downtown [[Keith-Albee Theatre]] Building became a regional communications center. They established direct telephonic communication with the city's general relief headquarters in City Hall with Red Cross, the Naval Reserve, the American Legion, the police and fire departments, and the Coast Guard. 
Messages of inquiry concerning the safety of friends and relatives, warnings of rising gasoline-covered waters, appeals for help from marooned victims, orders to relief agencies and workers poured into the cramped studios and quickly broadcast. 
Staff and local volunteers stayed on the air and provided information and support for nine days until 8:00 o'clock the following Sunday night, Jan. 31, when the station's regular schedule was resumed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of WSAZ/WGNT/WRVC, Huntington, West Virginia|url=https://jeff560.tripod.com/wsaz1.html|access-date=2021-01-30|website=jeff560.tripod.com}}</ref>