Disaster relief: New Deal action vs. modern apathy

Above: "Flood waters," a lithograph by Paul Weller (1912-2000), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, between 1936 and 1939. Image courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Action vs. Apathy

West Virginia Watch recently reported on disaster victims in southern West Virginia who aren't receiving nearly enough help. Nine weeks after historic flooding, residents are dealing with perpetually wet carpet, waterlogged floors, lack of heat, lack of running water, muddy basements, trash that isn't being removed, and mold. And even before the flooding disaster, "some residents haven’t had clean drinking water for decades" ("McDowell residents feel forgotten, overwhelmed as they face flood recovery with limited help," West Virginia Watch, April 23, 2025).

One elderly resident summed up the insufficient federal, state, local, and charitable assistance by saying, "Nobody cares, I'm telling you, this day and time."

But in a different day and time, long ago, the New Deal cared. It sent in armies of WPA and CCC workers to evacuate victims; assist with search and rescue; provide food, water, and clothing; clean-up debris; repair infrastructure and utilities; and even provide music and activities to calm rattled nerves. It provided these services all across the nation... for example, in West Virginia.

In 1937, when damaging floods hit several West Virginia counties near the Ohio River, WPA workers cleaned streets, made and distributed clothes, provided sleeping quarters, assisted the Red Cross, and "answered 4,000 miscellaneous calls for help such as for evacuating homes, rescuing stranded persons, salvaging personal belongings, transporting food, medicine, physicians, and nurses" ("WPA Workers Help In Crisis," The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia), January 26, 1937). A little over a month later, WPA workers were repairing flood-damaged streets, sewer systems, schools, and buildings (Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, West Virginia), March 6, 1937, and The Independent-Herald (Hinton, West Virginia), March 31, 1937).

We could provide this same WPA-style disaster relief today, to those in need, if we weren't so addicted to prioritizing personal wealth over the common good.