The Kentucky River basin is subject to regular flooding caused by high rainfall. The river's narrow valley and surrounding rocky terrain cause rainwater to run off into many ephemeral creeks rather than being absorbed into the soil. Much of the built environment in the area is located along the creek beds. Kentucky River flooding has been recorded since the early 1800s. Swiss immigrant and lock-keeper Frank Wurtz recorded floods from 1867 on and spoke with local farmers to learn of earlier ones in 1817, 1832, 1847, and 1854. Wurtz documented the floods of 1867, 1880, and 1883, which he claims was five feet higher than the high tide of the 1847 flood. The waters of the 1883 flood washed his post away. On January 1, 1919, the waters rose ten feet in as many hours at Frankfort, causing damage to many smaller towns along the river. In November of the same year, the waters rose three feet in one hour at Frankfort. In 1920, flooding caused the sewers in Frankfort to back up. There was also major flooding in early 1924 and late December 1926. Flooding in 1927 caused widespread damage to the Kentucky River basin in communities such as
Neon,
Whitesburg, and
Hazard. Hundreds of people were forced from their homes.
Flooding and flood control in the 1930s The Kentucky River basin endured many floods during the
Great Depression. An Ohio River flood in 1936 backed into the lower Kentucky; the crest reached high and flooded half of Frankfort, completely isolating the city. of the Ohio Valley were flooded in all. Severe flooding in 1937, exacerbated by cold weather, resulted in civil unrest. In the
Kentucky State Reformatory at Frankfort, the water rose to in the walls. With the downstairs population moving up a floor, racial tensions erupted. 24 prisoners tried to escape, but after a warning shot was fired, only one man left. No clean water or food was left in the prison, so authorities moved the population of 2,900 to the "feeble-minded institute" on the hill next to the prison. Carpenters were brought in to build small, temporary housing units. The National Guard was brought in to oversee the makeshift prison. The prisoners considered to be too dangerous for the setting were sent to
Lawrenceburg and Lexington. Governor
Happy Chandler successfully pushed for a new reformatory to be built in
La Grange. While the public was still dealing with the effects of the flooding,
Kentucky Utilities opened the
Dix Dam spillways, which added to the floodwaters. In
Mercer County, the ferry to
Woodford County washed away and was never replaced. A flood in 1939 rose slightly higher in Hazard than the flood in 1937. Residents of the Kentucky River watershed demanded the federal government do more to control floods. Kentucky Hydro-Electric had begun pushing as early as 1925 for a dam above
Booneville on the South Fork, but this proposal was unpopular as the dam would create a reservoir backing up the South Fork for over . In 1939, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the
Flood Control Act of 1938, which authorized the construction or study of many dams and reservoirs by the
Army Corps of Engineers. Only two small lakes, Carr Fork and Buckhorn, were created in the Kentucky River watershed. The most controversial project, a Red River dam that would have flooded most of the river's gorge, was ultimately abandoned in 1975.
January and February 1957 The Kentucky River basin, including the three Forks and their tributaries, suffered a major flood in January and February 1957, although that did not exceed the highest on record on North Fork (and on its tributary
Troublesome Creek), the
Goose Creek tributary of South Fork, and Carr Fork, all of which had had higher local floods at that point. The 1957 flood also affected the
Big Sandy River, the
Cumberland River, and the
Tennessee River. The total cost of damages was estimated at in the Kentucky River basin, out of across Kentucky as a whole. It also affected south-western West Virginia, western Virginia, and north-eastern Tennessee, but Kentucky state was the hardest hit. In part this was because of the physical geography of the area, as aforementioned. There had been of rainfall a week before the floods, which had saturated the ground and filled streams to their median levels, and in the period from the 27th of January to the 2nd of February there was of rainfall. The highest rainfall of the floods within Kentucky state was measured in the
Pikeville area, with over much of the flood area and at the headwaters of Middle Fork. The highest peak river discharges then on record were measured along all three Forks of the Kentucky River. There were no early warnings of the floods, as communications were disrupted. Approximately 7,700 telephones and 103 long-distance telephone lines were taken out of service. Most people had to evacuate their homes rapidly without time to transport their possessions. Water supplies were contaminated, natural gas supplies were cut off making it difficult to cook, and food shortages occurred because of damage to food stocks on people's homes and in local stores. President Eisenhower declared the region a disaster area. The Red Cross, one of several relief organizations that came to aid alongside the federal and state governments, reported the destruction of 597 homes, major damage to another 2,932 homes, and minor damage to a further 8,740. Nine people died. Several rural school buildings were entirely destroyed, and many others were closed either because of damage or because transportation disruption meant that people simply could not get to them. The most costly school loss was the State Vocational School at Hazard (), with the rest of Perry County having some worth of damage to other schools, and Floyd County having worth of damage to its schools. Highway damage made transport of relief supplies difficult, with the United States Army sending in 14 helicopters for transport of supplies, headquartered at
London. Approximately 900 mines and manufacturing industries, and 90% of the coal mines in Perry, Letcher, Floyd, and Pike Counties, were shut down. Ninety-six cable-suspended footbridges providing access to highways were destroyed. ==Recreation==