1927 – May 29-30 eastern KY downpour and flooding, 6 counties, esp. Letcher, KY  —     89

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-25-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 –89  History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, May 30, 1927, Waters of Kentucky River Peak

–89  Middlesboro Daily News, KY. “Flood Called KY’s Biggest Catastrophe.” 6-6-1927, p. 1.

–89  Natural Weather Service, Aberdeen SD Weather Forecast Office. “This Day…May 30th.”

Narrative Information

 History.com: “On this day [May 30] in 1927, the Kentucky River peaks during a massive flood that kills 89 people and leaves thousands homeless. Torrential rains caused this unprecedented flood.

 

“An account from the Mountain Eagle newspaper out of Whitesburg, Kentucky, in Letcher County, provides a detailed look at the disaster:

 

“The flood hit just after 11 o’clock Sunday night, and within a few minutes the whole camp of the Consolidated Fuel company was under water. The house in which Brent Breeding and his family were living was swept against the railroad trestle and then crushed to pieces. Not a plank of it is to be seen there now. All of the members of the family were saved except a five-year-old girl. The body has not yet been recovered.

 

Jimmy Higgins, superintendent, says that he heard at 11 o’clock that his sub-station was on fire and started up Smoot creek to see about it. The rain became so hard that he turned back and climbed the hill to his home overlooking the depot there. A prolonged flash of lightning showed him that the camp already flooded. He rushed back down the hill and began to direct the rescue work. They had to chop into the roofs of some of the houses to get the occupants out, for the water from below had trapped them. Swimmers went in at the risk of their own lives and carried out occupants. One home had thirteen children, all of whom were saved.”

 

“This flood had a serious long-term impact on the communities of the region: 12,000 people were left homeless and men were out of work for months as the mines in which most worked had to be shut down. As with most floods, it was the flooding of small streams rather than a major river that caused the most deaths. Major rivers that flood can cause serious property and agricultural damage, but do not usually cause deaths because it takes more time for them to flood, usually providing ample warning to people nearby. Smaller rivers and creeks tend to flood suddenly when inundated by local storm bursts; the sudden waves of water that kill people usually come out of these smaller rivers.”  (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, May 30, 1927, “Waters of Kentucky River Peak.”)

Newspapers

 

June 2, Mountain Eagle, KY: “The death list of the terrific storm which swept Letcher county Sunday night [29th] has mounted to sixteen, with reports coming in which indicate that it may reach twenty. Property damage cannot be estimated. Homes are destroyed, livestock and poultry drowned, and whole farms practically ruined. The fury of the flood far exceeded anything that has ever hit this area in its history. Numbers of the dead have been found but searchers are still at their gruesome task of tearing into drifts along the banks of the streams in hopes of finding bodies. Loved ones anxiously await some word from the searchers.

 

“The Known Dead [We place the names of fatalities at end of Narrative Section.]….” (Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, p. 1.)

 

June 6, Middlesboro Daily News, KY: “A brief survey of the disaster in Eastern Kentucky at the present time gives 89 people drowned or killed, hundreds of homes washed away, many business houses completely destroyed, dozens of bridges swept away, coal operations shut down for weeks, mile after mile of railroad trackage, telephone, telegraph and power lines washed away, destroyed or broken and black despair reigning over the hills of at least six Kentucky counties on the backwaters of the Kentucky, the Licking, and the Big Sandy….” (Middlesboro Daily News, KY. “Flood Called KY’s Biggest Catastrophe.” 6-6-1927, p. 1.)

 

Named Fatalities

 

  1. Adkins [Adkinson],[1] Arnold, daughter of Mrs. Tom Royse; Mouth of Mill Branch.[2]
  2. Boggs, Pansy,[3] child of Mrs. Lilly Boggs; grandchild of Patton Jones.; Kings Creek.[4]
  3. Breeding, 8-year-old daughter of Brent Breeding; at Elsiecoal.[5]
  4. Callahan, Mrs. Green. Near Roxana.[6]
  5. Callahan, Dewey, son of Mrs. Green Callahan. Near Roxana.[7]
  6. Callahan, unnamed daughter, 9-years-old. Near Roxana.[8]
  7. Mrs. Henry. On Linefork.[9]
  8. Unidentified child 1 of 3 of Mrs. Henry. On Linefork.[10]
  9. Unidentified child 2 of 3 of Mrs. Henry. On Linefork.[11]
  10. Unidentified child 3 of 3 of Mrs. Henry. On Linefork.[12]
  11. “Two from a Caudill family, on Line Fork, names not known.”[13]
  12. “Two from a Caudill family, on Line Fork, names not known.”[14]
  13. Fields, Mrs. Chester; Spicewood branch on Kingdom Come.[15]
  14. Jones, Patton; head of Kings Creek.[16]
  15. Royse, Mrs. Tom. At mouth of Mill Branch.[17]
  16. Whitaker, Mrs. Rich; Rockhouse Creek, near Blackey.[18]
  17. Unidentified woman’s body recovered in Letcher County, making for a total of 17.[19]

 

Sources

 

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, May 30, 1927. “Waters of Kentucky River Peak.”  Accessed 12-7-2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=05/30&categoryId=disaster

 

Middlesboro Daily News, KY. “Flood Called KY’s Biggest Catastrophe.” 6-6-1927, p. 1. Accessed 2-25-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/middlesboro-daily-news-jun-06-1927-p-1/

 

Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, p. 1. Accessed 2-25-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/whitesburg-mountain-eagle-jun-02-1927-p-1/

 

Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “Thousands of Dollars Given for Flood Relief.” 6-9-1927, p. 1. Accessed 2-25-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/whitesburg-mountain-eagle-jun-09-1927-p-1/

 

Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “Two Graves.” 6-16-1927. Accessed 2-25-2025 at: https://usgenwebsites.org/KYLetcher/articles/flood.htm

 

Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “Wife Is Torn From Husband’s Arms By Flood.” 6-9-1927, p. 1. Accessed 2-25-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/whitesburg-mountain-eagle-jun-09-1927-p-1/

 

Natural Weather Service, Aberdeen SD Weather Forecast Office. “This Day in Weather History: May 30th.” Accessed 2-25-2025 at: https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in_Weather_History_May_30

 

[1] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “Wife Is Torn From Husband’s Arms By Flood.” 6-9-1927, p. 1.

[2] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[3] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “Two Graves.” 6-16-1927. Accessed at USgenwebsites.org/KYLetcher.

[4] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[5] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[6] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[7] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[8] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[9] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1.

[10] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[11] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[12] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[13] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[14] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[15] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[16] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[17] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[18] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “16 Known Dead in Flood. Letcher area Isolated in Storms Wake.” 6-2-1927, 1

[19] Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY. “Thousands of Dollars Given for Flood Relief.” 6-9-1927, p. 1.