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In the days before air travel was common, natural disasters were seen as the responsibility of the state and of the local community. Much of the aid to those affected by the disaster came from families, community donations, churches and the state government. In 1927 the Great Mississippi Flood struck. It was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles of land submerged up to a depth of 30 feet. Approximately 500 people died as a result of flooding. Property damages due to flooding was assessed at approximately $1 billion, which was one-third of the federal budget in 1927, and is the equivalent of $930 billion in modern dollars, factoring in the increase in the price of land.
Response to the flood injured the reputation of one president and enhanced that of a future president. Following the Great Flood of 1927, the US Army Corps of Engineers was charged with taming the Mississippi River. The Flood Control Act of 1928 was passed, authorizing funding for construction of the world's longest system of levees. Floodways that diverted excessive flow from the Mississippi River were constructed. The levees prevented some flooding, but they also changed the flow of the Mississippi River, with the unintended consequence of increasing flooding in succeeding decades. In order to rebuild some roads and bridges, states received money from the US government. Louisiana received $1,067,336 from the federal government for rebuilding, but it had to institute a state gasoline tax to create a $30,000,000 fund to pay for new hard-surfaced highways.The flood also had social consequences, with many African Americans joining the Great Migration from affected areas to northern and midwestern cities, a movement that had been underway since World War I.
President Calvin Coolidge has been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. He initially declined the request of six governors to provide federal assistance and chose not to visit the site of the flooding. Coolidge said that he did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, and that it would be seen as mere political grandstanding. He did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. He believed that property owners should bear much of the cost. Congress disagreed and called for a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation. Anticipating that Coolidge would veto their proposal, Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928. Coolidge declined to take credit and signed the Flood Control Act of 1928 in private on May 15 without any publicity.
Coolidge's Commerce Secretary, future President Herbert Hoover, enhanced his reputation by directing flood relief operations. The next year Hoover easily won the Republican 1928 nomination for President, and the general election that year. In upstate Louisiana, anger among farmers directed at the New Orleans elite helped Huey Long win election to the governorship in 1928. Hoover was praised for his masterful handling of the refugee camps. But subsequent reports of the poor treatment of African Americans in those camps led him to make promises to the African-American community, which he failed to keep as president. Reports on the terrible situation in the refugee camps were kept out of the media at Hoover's request.
Almost four decades later, Hurricane Katrina, an extremely destructive and deadly Category 5 hurricane, struck the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005. It caused catastrophic damage from central Florida to eastern Texas. Subsequent flooding uncovered engineering flaws in the existing flood protection system around the city of New Orleans. At least 1,836 people died in the hurricane and subsequent flooding. Damage occurred in numerous coastal areas, such as Mississippi beachfront towns where boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland. Total property damage was estimated at $125 billion (2005 USD).
At the time, President George W. Bush was on a working vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Bush initially allowed state and local authorities to respond to Katrina, but the hurricane made landfall on August 29, devastating the city of New Orleans after the failure of that city's levees. TBush received severe criticism for the government's response to the hurricane, primarily criticism of mismanagement and lack of leadership in the relief efforts in response to the storm and its aftermath. Criticism was intensified by television coverage of residents who remained stranded by flood waters without water, food, or shelter. Deaths from thirst, exhaustion and violence days after the storm had passed fueled the criticism. It was alleged that race, class, and other factors contributed to delays in government response. During A Concert for Hurricane Relief, a benefit concert for victims of the hurricane, rapper Kanye West told the crowd, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
As required by federal law, President George W. Bush directed the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, to coordinate the Federal response. Chertoff designated Michael D. Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as the Principal Federal Official to lead the deployment and coordination of all federal response resources and forces in the Gulf Coast region. Bush and Secretary Chertoff were criticized for what critics perceived as a lack of planning and coordination. Brown claimed that Governor Blanco resisted the federal government efforts, while Governor Blanco disputed this. Brown was recalled to Washington and Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen replaced him as chief of hurricane relief operations. Three days after the recall, Brown resigned as director of FEMA in spite of having received recent praise from President Bush. There was plenty of criticism to go around in the media, and besides Bush, it was also directed at the local and state governments headed by Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans and Louisiana Governor Katherine Blanco. Nagin and Blanco were criticized for failing to implement New Orleans' evacuation plan and for ordering residents to a shelter of last resort without any provisions for food, water, security, or sanitary conditions. Nagin was criticized for delaying his emergency evacuation order until 19 hours before landfall, which led to hundreds of deaths of people who could not find any way out of the city. An ABC News poll conducted on September 2, 2005, showed more blame was being directed at state and local governments (75%) than at the Federal government (67%), with 44% blaming Bush's leadership directly.
In the waning days of the 2012 election campaign, Hurricane Sandy affected 24 states, including the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and west across the Appalachian Mountains to Michigan and Wisconsin. , with particularly severe damage in New Jersey and New York. Its storm surge hit New York City on October 29, flooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city. Damage in the United States amounted to $65 billion (2012 USD). Hurricane Sandy affected the presidential campaign. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of Mitt Romney's leading supporters, praised President Barack Obama and his reaction to the hurricane and toured storm-damaged areas of his state with the president. Obama signed emergency declarations on October 28 for several states expected to be impacted by Sandy, allowing them to request federal aid and make additional preparations in advance of the storm. The hurricane drew attention away from the campaigns and was spun by the Obama teams as showing the president taking a bipartisan position and being "presidential". New Jersey Governor Chris Christie offered praise for the President and his reaction to the hurricane. The two of them also toured the areas of New Jersey that were hard-hit by the hurricane.
The storm also drew negative attention to the Romney Campaign, not only because Christie, a major supporter and a Republican, was seen to be embracing Obama, literally as well as figuratively. Some media reminded voters that Romney had once proposed the elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA." In a lead opinion on Monday, October 29, editors at The New York Times summarized their view of Romney's primary position: "Mr. Romney not only believes that states acting independently can handle the response to a vast East Coast storm better than Washington, but that profit-making companies can do an even better job. He said it was 'immoral' for the federal government to do all these things if it means increasing the debt." Two days later, on Wednesday, October 31, Governor Romney's campaign released a statement on his behalf which said: "I believe that FEMA plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. As president, I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission, while directing maximum resources to the first responders who work tirelessly to help those in need, because states and localities are in the best position to get aid to the individuals and communities affected by natural disasters".
Two years into his presidency, President Donald Trump has had to confront a number of natural disasters, with predictable reaction from supporters and opponents of the polarizing presidency. On August 28, 2017, the Category 4 Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southeastern Texas, and caused 40-60 inch rainfall and massive flooding in the Houston area. The next day, Trump visited Corpus Christi, Texas near where Harvey made landfall, and then visited the Austin, Texas Emergency Operations Center. During the Corpus Christi visit he praised the work of FEMA administrator Brock Long, Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. His political opponents used this as an opportunity for criticism. Politico wrote that during his visit, "the president didn't meet a single storm victim, see an inch of rain or get near a flooded street." In September, Trump personally donated $1 million designated for hurricane relief to twelve organizations and on September 8, Trump signed into law H.R. 601, which among other spending actions designated $15 billion for Hurricane Harvey relief.
On September 10, two weeks after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Louisiana, the Category 4 Hurricane Irma hit the southwestern tip of Florida and then moved up Florida Gulf coast causing extensive damage and prolonged power outages. President Trump visited the damage area and relief efforts on September 14, promising full financial backing for the state's recovery.
On September 20, 2017, Puerto Rico was struck by Category 4 Hurricane Maria, causing widespread devastation, knocking out the power system and phone towers, destroying buildings, and causing widespread flooding. The Trump administration was criticized for delayed response to the humanitarian crisis on the island. Trump did not comment on Puerto Rico for several days while the crisis was unfolding, drawing criticism from the Washington Post. President Trump later dismissed the criticism, saying he was "very proud" of an "amazing" response, to which the Washington Post responded, "on the ground in Puerto Rico, nothing could be further from the truth." Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan, repeatedly criticized US relief efforts, saying that they were not reaching the people who needed the aid. On September 29 she told the media that people were "dying, starving, thirsty". Trump responded by criticizing Puerto Rico officials, saying that they had "poor leadership ability" and "want everything to be done for them". He alluded to Puerto Rico's debt crisis. In January 2018, FEMA officially ended its humanitarian mission in Puerto Rico. At the time of FEMA's departure, one third of Puerto Rico residents still lacked electricity and some places lacked running water. Politico criticized the administration's response, personalizing its attack against Trump, claiming that the President had showed far more attention to Hurricane Harvey in Texas and that the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was slower and weaker. The official death rate due to Maria reported by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is 2,975. President Trump claimed that the official death rate was wrong and that the Democrats were trying to make him "look as bad as possible".
Earlier this month, while California was experiencing was one of its most destructive wildfires, President Trump visited the area and blamed the fires on poor mismanagement of the forests by California.
Natural disasters are tragic in themselves. Sometimes, criticism of the federal government's readiness and response are a proper target for criticism, if only to prevent a repetition of future tragedy caused by unpreparedness. The current climate of polarization in politics blurs the ability to determine which criticism is legitimate and which isn't. Natural disasters and how to respond to them will continue to be another issue on the President's desk.