Early 1997 was an exciting time. After a enormous rain storm the Ohio River started to flood. Additional rain kept pushing the flood level higher and higher. The Flood of 1997 impacted all the company's river operations on the Ohio River. One of the first impacts was at Cape Sandy. Cape one's pit flooded from all the rain. The flood quickly closed down the loadout facilities at Charlestown and Cape Sandy. A couple days later, all the river facilities stopped loading and unloading and all shipping on the river was suspended.

Mulzer did not give up however. Even though much of our sand comes from river dredges, Mulzer provided 985 tons of sand to Tell City when the flood wall protecting the town started to leak. Many employees worked to help build the first sandbag wall. That same day, the water stared to seep around the sandbags. Trucks and heavy equipment were called into action to construct an 6 foot tall limestone dam that surrounded the threatened area. No homes or businesses were damaged, and the people of Tell City saved the flood wall.

Mulzer employees worked to save Rockport and Grandview from more flood damage. Employees from the Evansville area yards worked late to provide sand for sand bagging operations in the area. During the flood we provided many tons of sand free of charge to individuals working to save their homes.

Much of the Mulzer equipment and inventory were covered with water from the flood. Some companies might have given up, decided the cost of recovery was too high, or at least moved their operations away from the mighty rivers. When asked about the potential for flooding at their river yards, Ken Mulzer said, "It may be expensive to clean up after a flood, but the cost to our customers would be tremendous if we did not use the river to move our rock." At the end of the week, no barges broke free from Mulzer moorings and damage to our facilities was minor. Our employees get all the credit for a job well done! When it was all over, the Flood of 1997 was the biggest flood in over 20 years.