The Expanding Role of the Federal Government: 1927–1950

Abstract

This chapter looks at three major disasters: the Great Mississippi Flood; the drought and storms that became known as the Dust Bowl; and the Texas City explosions, which occurred just after World War II. It explores why and how these disasters became focusing events. The chapter examines how these events prompted the federal government, as well as state and local governments, to take a greater role in disaster prevention, response, and recovery—a gradual transformation that resulted in the passage of major federal disaster legislation in 1950. The federal government’s involvement dates back to 1824, when the US Supreme Court ruled in Gibbons v. Ogden that it was constitutional for the federal government to finance and construct river improvements. The 1927 flood demonstrated the inadequacies of the federal government’s “levees-only” policy. Federal legislators further recognized “that local were unable to finance effective flood control measures and that local governments were already making enormous contributions to flood control.”.