Ohio River flood of 1937

===Ohio===
Six to {{convert|12|in|mm}} of rain fell in Ohio during January 13–25, 1937, totals never before or since equaled over such a large area of Ohio. January 1937 remains as the wettest month ever recorded in Cincinnati.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9x4DAAAAMBAJ&q=ohio%20river%20cincinnati&pg=PA66 | title=It's Not the Heat, It's The ...| work=[[Cincinnati (magazine)|Cincinnati Magazine]] | date=December 1995 | access-date=May 18, 2013 | author=Horstmeyer, Steve | page=66}}</ref>

One hundred thousand people in Cincinnati were left homeless, as the flood affected the city from January 18 to February 5.  The river reached its peak on January 26, at {{convert|79.9|ft|m}}, more than {{convert|25|ft}} higher than flood stage.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8S1LFG_KAEC&q=insider%20cincinnati&pg=PA35 | title=Insiders' Guide to Cincinnati | publisher=Globe Pequot | year=2007 | access-date=May 8, 2013 | author=Felix Winternitz & Sacha DeVroomen Bellman | page=35| isbn=9780762741809 }}</ref> Ohio River levels on January 26–27 were the highest known from [[Gallipolis, Ohio|Gallipolis]] downstream past Cincinnati. Crests were 20 to {{convert|28|ft|m}} above flood stage and 4 to {{convert|9|ft|m}} above the previous record of 1884. {{convert|12|sqmi|km2}} of the city's area was flooded,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW-52BWC4LoC&q=%22guilford%20school%22%20AND%20cincinnati&pg=PA154 | title=Cincinnati, a Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors | year=1943 | access-date=May 4, 2013 | author=Federal Writers' Project| page=154| publisher=Best Books on | author-link=Federal Writers' Project | isbn=9781623760519 }}</ref> the water supply was cut, and [[Streetcars in Cincinnati|streetcar service]] was curtailed.  Among the flooded structures was [[Crosley Field]], home field of the [[Cincinnati Reds]] baseball team. Additionally, the amusement park [[Coney Island, Cincinnati, Ohio|Coney Island]] was submerged, causing pieces of carousel horses to float away, which were recovered as far downriver as [[Paducah, Kentucky|Paducah]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coneyislandpark.com/history.php |title=Coney Island Cincinnati – History |publisher=Coneyislandpark.com |access-date=August 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806064523/http://www.coneyislandpark.com/history.php |archive-date=August 6, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

According the several local historians, the town of Gallipolis was completely submerged as high as the mound hill cemetery overlook, and many rumors regarding the curse of Lafayette's Gold Treasure buried by slaves on Gallipolis Island began to surface around the town.This flood was very severe.

In [[Portsmouth, Ohio|Portsmouth]], the rising river threatened to top the flood wall, erected {{convert|10|ft|m}} above flood stage. City officials deliberately opened the flood gates and allowed river water to flood the business district 8 to {{convert|10|ft|m}} deep, thus preventing a catastrophic breaching of the flood wall. The Ohio River eventually crested {{convert|14|ft|m}} over the top of the [[flood wall]]. Ten people died, many fewer than the 467 killed in the floods of March 1913.