Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The 1937 flood is said to have inflicted more damage on Portsmouth than on any other Ohio
city between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Three-fourths of the city was reported under water.
All of the many small houses dotting the riverbank were either washed away or ruined bey-
ond repair. Countless other homes were damaged.
The leafless branches of a tall tree in the front yard of a house on Portsmouth's Young
Street cast a perfect reflection in the floodwaters that fill the street. Although not ravished
like those that stood closer to the Scioto and Ohio Rivers, even these houses did not escape
the floodwaters. An early estimate placed the flood damage to the city at $5 million, but ulti-
mately, that figure was increased to more than $17 million.
