The 1937 Flood

Catherine’s Story
The ‘37 Flood
by Terry Burres

{This story is based on the events that happened to my mom, Catherine Shelton,and her adventures during the 1937 Ohio River flood.}


My name is Catherine. When I was seven years old I lived with my mommy, daddy and nine year old brother, Norman, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. That is a small town that sits on the Ohio River. It’s across the river from Louisville, Kentucky.

Daddy worked. Mommy kept the house and took care of Norman and me. Norman had gotten sick in the spring of 1936. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him; but, he was so sick that he missed a lot of school. When I was in second grade Norman was in my class. On the days that Norman couldn’t go to school I would listen very hard. Then I would go home and we played school if he was feeling well enough. Sometimes he was so sick that he would just lay in bed ana I would read to him.

On January the first of 1937 the rain started to pour from the dark clouds. It rained everyday for weeks and weeks. We couldn’t go outside to play, and mommy kept Norman home from school. He had to sit all day by the fire warped in blankets. Mommy was worried that he might catch influenza . The doctor had told mommy to very careful or Norman could die.

By the sixteenth of January the water in the Ohio River was so high that people were filling bags with sand. The bags were piled to make a wall to try to keep the river water out of town. It didn’t help because the water rushed into the sewer system with so much power the manhole covers were tossed high into the air. Some of the heavy covers smashed into cars and trucks that lined the street. The water shot into the air like giant fountains.

I was sitting my classroom when I heard loud crashing sounds. The gusher of water shot so high that we could see it outside second story window. All the kids ran to the window to take a look. Our teacher was telling us to sit down when the door to the hall opened and there was the mother of one of the boy in my class. She told him to get his coat on and to bring his things. She handed our teacher a note as he got ready.

Our teacher told all of us that we needed to get ready to go home. We sat at our desks and waited as one by one parents came to the door to take their children away. I was so glad to see my mommy standing at the door. I waved goodbye to my teacher then headed out into the hall to join my mommy and Norman.

My mommy had a blanked bundle hanging from one arm and was holding my brother’s hand. As we walked out of the school I stood gapping at the tree of water that shot high into the air from the manholes. My mommy kept walking so Norman and I couldn’t stop to watch the water getting deeper in the street.

Mommy said that a truck would take us to the Rose Hill School. The school was on high ground. She said that the river couldn’t go that high. There were already people sitting in the huge truck waiting to reach safety. A man helped mommy, Norman and me climb into the biggest truck that I had ever seen.

When we got to the school my daddy was waiting for us. The classrooms were setup for people to live in. Everything that we didn’t use was stacked in the halls. Daddy had two cots made up in a corner of the classroom. One cot had my daddy and mommy’s blanket spread across the end. The other had Norman's’ special blanket that our grandma had made for him when he first got sick.

Daddy put the things that he had in boxes under the cots. Mommy opened the bundle and there she had Norman’s train that he loved so much. She then pulled out the book of fairy tales that Santa had given me and Norman for Christmas. Then from the tangle of other things my mommy thought that we would need she lifted out my doll. She was my favorite birthday present ever. I gave my mommy a big hug.

For the next few days we stayed at Rose Hill School. Norman slept on one end of the cot and I slept on the other end. Mommy slept on the other cot. Daddy slept on the floor at the end of the cots. During the day Norman and I would play quietly in our area. Daddy helped keep the boiler going. Mommy would help cook and took care of some of the other folks who were sick. The grownups worked together to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

One of the other families, who was sharing our classroom, were friends of mommy and daddy's. Mommy and Mrs. Smith took turns watching a group of kids. Mrs. Smith’s little girl, who was about my age, would play with us. We would play school, or dolls. Some times one of the grownups would read from our fairy tale book.

My mommy started coughing. The doctors said that mommy had influenza and needed to go to the hospital. Norman cried so hard that they let him go with mommy. Daddy and I were left behind at the school.

While they were gone Mrs. Smith would watch me so daddy could still help when he was needed. A day or two after they were taken to the hospital, daddy told me that he had to be gone for the day. He and several other men were going to haul a truck load of coal to keep the furnace going. He told me to be good, mind Mrs. Smith and he would be back as fast as he could.

I held my doll while Mrs. Smith read to me and her little girl. During the story about ‘The Glass Mountain’ some of our room mates came in to pack their things. The water had started to rise and we had to leave right away. Mrs. Smith helped me pull on my coat. I had just enough time to grab my hat and my doll before Mrs. Smith took me by one hand and her daughter by the other.

We were loaded into army trucks that were used to take us across the Ohio River on the last bridge that was open. The water was almost in the truck. I wanted my daddy and mommy. My daddy had said to mind Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith must have known how scared I was because she reached down and held my hand.

When we reached the other side of the bridge we were taken to the Cabbage Patch Settlement House to spend the night. The next morning we boarded a train that took us to Bardstown in Kentucky. Bardstown was far enough away from the river to be safe. With each mile I wondered if I would ever seeing my family again. Mrs. Smith told me that the Red Cross knew that I was with them and where we were going so that daddy could find me. I just set quietly and held my doll tighter.

It had taken us two days to get to Mrs. Smith’s cousins farm in the country. It was late when we arrived so we all went straight to bed. Even though I was a so very tired I had a hard time falling asleep.

The next morning I sat on a chair by the front window and waited for my daddy to come for me. I would leave the chair only for a few moments at a time. If I had to leave to eat or sleep I would rush back to the window to start watching again. For days from early morning until night time I sat at that window.

One afternoon I saw someone coming down the road. As he got closer I knew that it was my daddy. It had taken my daddy two weeks to find me. I ran outside and jumped into his arms. I couldn’t stop smiling or hugging my daddy.

Daddy and I spent a couple days with Mrs. Smith’s family until he could arranged for a ride back home. Mommy and Norman had been released from the hospital. They were waiting for us at my Aunt Edna’s house. Everyone had a hard time believing my adventure. I was just so happy that my family was all together once more.