In 1932 flood, Lexington streets became rivers as 8 inches of water hit the city

Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.

Nearly 100 years ago, record rainfall hit Lexington, flooding downtown.

By the time the rain stopped on that Tuesday in 1932, six people were dead and Lexington streets were underwater. It was, and remains, the heaviest downpour of rain in a single day in Lexington’s history.

The rain started at 2 a.m. on August 2, 1932, according to Lexington Herald archives. By 4 a.m., the rain had turned into a deluge, lasting about two hours and dropping 3 inches of water on the city.

Between 6 and 7 a.m., even more rain fell, and it kept coming. By the time it stopped in the late afternoon, more than 8 inches had fallen in just over 12 hours.

After the rain stopped, some areas of Main Street looked more like “a mountain stream during the rainy season,” the paper said, with some nearby streets and alleys seeing as much as three or four feet of flowing water. Basements flooded and merchandise stocks were ruined as the water roared through downtown businesses.

“There was hardly a street in the city where motorists did not have to drive through with the greatest precaution to prevent drowning out of their motors, and even these precautions frequently were to no avail,” the paper said.

The flooding killed six in Jessamine County, and left motorists in Lexington and surrounding counties struggling to navigate the water-ravaged roads. Reports said crops were lost and damages to business and property reached into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, equivalent to more than $2.3 million today.

Official recordings of rainfall began to be kept in 1888, and since then, nothing has come close to that day, which clocked in at 204.2 millimeters.

The next closest amount is 141.2 millimeters on March 1, 1997, followed by 138.4 millimeters on Sept. 3, 1922; 136.7 on August 10, 2014; and 131.3 millimeters on April 3, 2015.

Officials at the time blamed the flooding on “poor sewers” in the city. The city manager at the time, Paul Morton, said it was proof the city needed to pass a bond issue to pay for a new sewer system.

“We can’t do anything without a bond issue,” he told the Lexington Herald. “We can hope for no relief from these floods until we do build an adequate sewer system. Surely the people will be ready for a bond issue now.”

Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.