How American Presidents Respond to Emergencies: Then, and Now

Franklin Roosevelt treated emergencies like a war, and rapidly mobilized the resources to win them, as described below in this excerpt from his public papers, which is considered to have been written by him:

The Ohio and Mississippi River Flooding, 1937

"...When it became evident that the perilous conditions in the Ohio Valley would be even more challenging than the previous year, I set up a Flood Committee consisting of the following members: Harry L. Hopkins, Works Progress Administrator; Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Naval Operations; General Malin Craig, Chief of Staff; Rear-Admiral Russell R. Waesche, Commandant of the Coast Guard; Rear-Admiral Cary Grayson, Chairman of the American Red Cross; and Robert Fechner, Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps. This committee was not a formal body, but grew out of a White House conference at which we perceived the necessity for coordination of all governmental efforts. One of the vacant offices in the White House was assigned to Chairman Hopkins, and during the emergency the committee met with me twice daily to map out plans for a concerted attack upon the problem.

"The WPA assisted directly in the rescue work; and the entire task of rescue operations on a 100-mile front along one side of the Ohio River was undertaken by the Indiana WPA. While the women's sewing projects were supplying 400,000 articles of clothing and bedding, thousands of WPA men were building sandbag dikes, throwing up barricades to save bridges and highways, carrying stone to strengthen dams, removing debris, manning boats, and delivering food. At the height of the activities, there was an army of 150,000 WPA workers on the job in the Mississippi Valley, with 30,000 more clearing up the wreckage left by the Ohio River. In eleven States these workers helped evacuate beleaguered cities, and built temporary shelters for the refugees. After the flood waters had receded, they bent to the task of repairing water mains and highways, and of starting the long process of salvage and restoration.

"The Civilian Conservation Corps likewise rendered prompt and valuable service. Work programs were temporarily abandoned in the 193 camps along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, so that the full strength of the personnel could be utilized in flood relief...

"The Coast Guard mobilized all available motor surfboats and men to rush to the inundated sectors ...

"Once again the various branches of the Navy Department did excellent work in conjunction with the Coast Guard efforts, as they had in 1936. The naval supply stations at Norfolk and Philadelphia assembled motor boats with crews, which were transported immediately to the scene of disaster.

"The Public Health Service concentrated upon rushing serums and vaccines to protect against the spread of disease.

"Many other Federal agencies wholeheartedly threw their energies into the great collaborative effort. The War Department surveyed the facilities for evacuating refugees by truck and rail, and took charge of establishing new locations on higher ground...

"In the rehabilitation work, housing constituted a major problem. On January 29, I appealed to the banks to extend credit upon the most liberal terms possible to those whose homes had been damaged and destroyed. The Federal Housing Administration was directed to pay special attention to the insurance of loans to flood sufferers who were forced to repair or rebuild their homes. Loans were also extended to flood victims by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and through the machinery of the Farm Credit Administration. As a direct result of the 1937 floods, the Disaster Loan Corporation was created by an Act of Congress..."

The January 1937 relief mobilization on the Ohio River Valley flood mobilization was typical of the FDR/Hopkins approach. 15% of Cincinnati was underwater; 70% of Louisville, and 100% of Paducah, Ky. Cities up and down the Ohio River were in panic and chaos. 500 were dead, and a million were left homeless. Hopkins, who was also FDR's flood relief commissioner, immediately arrived at the scene and oversaw relief, construction, flood control, and cleanup. He deployed more than 200,000 WPA workers to build sanitary privies, nail wooden catwalks to carry foot traffic over the swamps of mud, deliver relief supplies to the stricken population, clear refuse, remove garbage, and cook hot meals for the hungry.

The book American Made: The Legacy of the WPA by Nick Taylor also recounts the heroic response of WPA to the catastrophic impact of the freak hurricane that devastated New England in September, 1938. The fast-moving monster storm killed 682 people and injured 1700. 9,000 homes were destroyed and 15,000 damaged. Within 18 hours, FDR and Hopkins had deployed 100,000 WPA workers there to engage in everything from dam repairs (to prevent even more flooding), to sandbagging, evacuation of stranded victims, and cleanup.