Floods

Floods, 1937 (site placement is YMCA)

The Ohio River gives and it takes. The river’s presence led to the birth of New Albany, its industry and its thriving commerce. The river also nearly destroyed it all. Today New Albany’s downtown is protected from river flooding by a massive earthen levy. In parts of southern Indiana streets pass through the levy connecting to businesses and residences on both sides of the levy. During potential flood conditions doors are fitted into these breaks to limit flood damage. In New Albany this levy blocks the river view and buries the old wharf, but it is a direct result of the terrible flood of 1937.

The 1937 Flood

Heavy snow in the winter of 1936, followed by heavy rains, brought the worst flood in history to the Ohio River Valley. By the time the rains stopped, the river was higher than for any other recorded flood – 30 feet over its normal height. New Albany remained under water from January 23 to early February.

In the east and west ends of the city, over 1,000 families lost clothes and valuables while their homes were washed away. Churches, the National Guard Armory, Red Cross facilities and Monon Railroad boxcars, were used to shelter more than 15,000 homeless residents. Many had to temporarily relocate to neighboring cities.

Volunteers came from many cities to help. Food and clothing were sent and emergency relief hospitals established. Fred Butler of Indianapolis used his boat, dubbed the “Ark” to rescue animals stranded between Jeffersonville and New Albany. Other animals could not be rescued because of their size. One cow and her calf spent the entire flood on the porch of the Methodist Church Parsonage. Relief workers delivered hay and stopped every other day to milk the cow.

The high water was not the only hardship. The dirty water contained contaminated materials, creating the threat of a typhoid outbreak. Telephone, gas and electricity were disrupted until lines were repaired. Also, there was the threat of looting.

As the flood waters began receding in early February, everything was coated in inches-deep slimy muck. The heartbreaking return to wrecked houses and businesses meant the beginning of the overwhelming task of cleaning up the debris of destroyed furniture, river mud and flotsam.

The New Albany Library found all of its collection of books reduced to a sodden mass of pulp which had to be shoveled out of the basement and carted away. Eventually, within a few months the cleanup was complete. Overall, the flood cost new Albany eight million dollars in damage.