Ohio River Flood Research Paper

Natural disasters are apart of our history as inhabitants of the earth. Throughout the thousands and thousands of years that man has inhabited earth, many things have changed and evolved; however, one thing that remains consistent is that no matter how far we look back in time, all generations have had to deal with disasters. Throughout the majority of this class, we have been studying responses to disasters and what their results came to be. Many times we try to create plans or have solutions that we think will work prior to a disaster happening. These are very important but I think what is even more important is a community or regions ability to respond to a natural disaster and the entities and policies that come about as a result of the disaster. Living in St. Louis, we are accustom to flooding. It …show more content…
The time the flood occurred was obliviously in the heart of the time period when segregation was at its pinnacle. Word of the discrimination got back to the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where then secretary, Roy Wilkins, called for the resignations of the Coast Guard Admiral Russell R. Waesche. Admiral Waesche met with Secretary Wilkins and assured him that his guardsmen were in no way discriminating against any people. The response to the Ohio River flood disaster of 1937 is significant because it is considered to be the first time that the United States Coast Guard responded to a natural disaster to help aide. When we think about today’s more recent disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy the Coast Guard always seems to be prevalent and often times in command of the recovery efforts. The Ohio River flood is considered to have set the precedence for this response, which is some vitally important to our response efforts