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No. 4 -- 1121
T HE
WO R
K
S
PROGRAM
-- Works Progress Administration
For Release in Newspapers
Sunday, March 22, 1936.
Hopkins Keeps Advised on WPA Flood Relief Activities.
Reports conti~ued to pour in upon Works Progress A~~inistrator Harry L.
Hopkins today advising him of the activities of WPA emergency work crews throughout the thirteen flood-stricken states.
Mere than 250,000 men and women from WPA proj e cts--100, 000 of them estimated to be in Pennsylvania alone--were reported fighting the waters, rescuing
stranded families, and "mopping up" in the waJce of rive rs and streams that had
begun to return to their beds,
Flood crests had passed throughout western Ne\v York and Pennsylvania, but
many sections of New England and cities along the lower Ohio River were still
menaced by rising waters and Qaximum levels are not anticipated until Sunday and
Monday.
Meani:rhile, liaison \Vas being established with Pennsylvania, New York, and
Connecticut communities which have been isolated with all commu..'lications cut off for
the last three days.
From each came harrowing accounts of human suffering and
destruction of private and public property.
7rPA workers, cooperating with local
officials and welfare groups, had pressed their labors without benefit of news or
instructions from outside sources, the reports stated.
Mr. Hopkins received the following report from State Works Progress aJministrator Ed~ard N, Jones of Pennsylvania:
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More than 100,000 "NFA wo rkers are engaged in flc('ld relief in
the 16 counties sufferbg from the disaster.
Among the workers are 6,000 women, including 300 trained
nurses who are cooperating with the State Health Department
caring for injured and taking health protective measures. The
other W')men are operating emergency kitchens and preparing and
distributing clothing and food supplies.
11
11 Throughout the affected areas WPA workers were busy night and
day evacuating residents and assisting local ('lfficia.ls. In
northwestern Pennsylvania, swept by heavy snowstorms while the
rivers in central and southwestern Pennsylvenia were rising to
an all-time record. WPA workers kert the highways open sn that
aid could be rushed to the flood zones.
11 District No. 12 had 3,000 men ')n the job throughout Wednesday
night and Thursday morning clearing a..v1 18-inch snowfall from
the roads. National Guardsmen were transported to the Johnsto~~
flood scene in five WPA busses.
"Nearly 5,000 men, meamvhile, were at work in District 14
clearing the highways. Practically every road in Mercer County
was closed because of a snowfall that drifted in places to
fifteen and eighteen feet. La~Tence and Butler Countie s were
less severely hit but scores of towns and hundreds of farms
were isolated until the WPA men opened up the roads.
"When the floods broke Wednesday, eve!"y f acility of t he WPA
was placed at the disp osal of local and stat e offici als in the
emergency, District No. 11 moved headquarters from Somerset
to Johnstown and o!"dered 6,000 men from Somerset and Cambria
Counties into the stricken city. They a.ssistec in rescue wrrk
and after the flo od wat 2- rs subsided started to clear debris
from the streets. DO\\ntov:n Johnsto wn is under four to five
feet of mud.
"Tomorrow morning 4,000 WFA workers will start digging out,
working on a Fourth Ward section that has been blocked off
by city officials. When this section is completed, the
workers will be moved to another section and proceed in this
fashi(m until the job is complet ,1 d. City officials were
forced to adop t the blocking-off plan so that sightseers and
rerugees would not interfere with tr~ work.
11 When
the flood waters descended on Pittsburgh, 25,000 WFA
workers were ordered to stand by fnr action. They assisted
in p atrol duty during the height of the flood and when the
water began tc recede they started the job of cleaning up .
"The director of District no. 13 rushed 5,000 workers,
including a score or more of nurses, tc Vandergrift on the
KisskiminetasRi ver, where flood-w a ters Wednesday washed
away between 50 and 100 home s.
11 WFA
warkers who were rep airing the damage done by last week's
flood in Wilk~~ iti~Eif were summoned to fight the n~ ig~@-~
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as fl.iod warnings again were given Weanesday. The director
threw 1, i;oo men on the -oartially finished dike. along the
Susquehanna River at the lower end of the city. They held
the dike intact with sandbags until the waters, reaching
unprecedented heights, completely covered the operaticns.
"Two thousand WPA workers assisted in evacuating residents
and pumping out hospitals, orphanages, the tele phone
building, power plants and public buildings. Three tho .1sand
were standing by to start the clean-up when the water cropped
low enough.
1
"Williamspo rt, one l'lf the most severely-hit communities. was
out of touch with the rest of the state for more than 48 hours.
The director was reached by tele phone today. He reported
that the WPA offices (District :.ro. 8) in the Park Hotel had
been flooded and half of the town was inundated, Sc ores of
homes were washed away :,n the flood. Fcur thcusand WPA
workers are assisting in flood relief in this comm,mi ty.
"Communication with District No. 10 head.:r.1arters, at Dubois,
also was out for 24 hours. The director re ported today that
the offices were flooded. Four th~usand WPA workers were
operating in Clearfield, Clintcn and Centre Counties, most
seriously affected by the flood in this District.
Six thousand WPA wcr1::ers helped in r escue and reli ef vro rk in
District No. 9. Hundreds of families we re taken from their
hl'.'lmes as the Juniata River swelled ove r its banks We dnesday
night, Throughout the following day the same service was
pe rformed in adjoining communiti es and in Harris burg further
down the Sus :i_uehanna. Thirty-five W?A trucks were dispatched
to Johnstown late Wednesday night from a project in Indiantown Gap after local and state officials ap:'.)ealed for this
type of equipment.
11
"While it is impossible, due to disruuted communice.tions, to
get any accurate figures it is estimated that not less th.an
1,000 WPA trucks are being used in flood relief work.
Throughout the state the WPA is coo uerating with the Red
Cross and the Governor's Disaster Relief Committee.
"Every facility and the entire pers.,nnel of the State WPA.
were placed at the disposal of the Relief Committee. District
directors were notified to extend the fullest coo-::ieration to
local and state authorities in the emargency.
11
17.PA workers in undetermined numbers have been used throughout the flood areas to re:pair wash-cuts on highways, clear
away landslides and remove snow so that communication can
be established as quickly as possible.
The WPA I s participation in the work of alleviating flo od
suffering has won the commendation of the public and of
officials in eyery part of the state. The .;irganization was
11
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fitted. to meet such an emer,e;ency and in every section it acted.
with speed. a11d. efficiency.
Sever?-.1 flood cor1trol prcjects developed. by WPA have proved.
their wo1·th, 2.ccording to meager reports. 1:'hi s is es-pecially
true in Schuylkill Count;r, Lackawanna Count;:.r and York County,
where the Codorus Creek project is located. 11
11
At the same time, State Works Pro,:;-ress Administrator F. vVitcher
McCullough of West Virginia, informed Ur. Hopkins of cori.di tions within
his State.
His report follows:
11 FifteE::n hundred WPA workers at corn!!ln.nd of agencies directing
flood rescue work in West Virgini ;::i, , have moved thousands of
families from danger, saving unestimated amount of nrop erty.
ct directors are under ord,.., rs to keep wor;(Ineci mobilized
and to cooper Ate fully with the A,"neri CM Red Cros s a nd other
we lfare authorities.
11 Distri
11 WPA
trucks and other equ i pme nt have ·oeen mr-.de available. Truck
crews have been on dut~r clay a nd. ni ght e"acuating t hro a t ene d
families and r s scuing others wl-10 ·.vere trap·9ed assisting them
to find r efu ge 1rnd p re sc rving pr ope rty.
"It is impossible to get complete p i".!ture as comm1rnic:ation
service is disrupted.
11
1 h ave di:cected tl'.at b ed c:1. oth i n~ , wearing R}.lTJHrel e nd other
commodities manufac tur ed in s ewi ng roo r1s be: mn.a.e F1vail ah l e to
sufferers.
"Commo d it/ d istri"o u t .ion service i11 dist1·ib,1ting food and
supDli e s in coo pcr r--ti on with the Stn.te Relief .Admini strfltion
and the Red C~oss.
urn Wheeling area where sufferinr; i:, most aci1te, school
nutrition r :c ojec t wo1·kc,rs are cooki.:1g and s ervinP.; f,:iod to
refugees.
11 0rder s
have b een r..ent out for WPA cormni.rni ty sani t,;:i.tion proj E: ct
workers in cou:1ties bordt, ring 8bio Valley to be used in sc1:fegunrding and clean in€ v1ater suyrol;r sources and other necessary
sanitation work under direction of State Department of Een.lth
to prevent s-prE>ad of dis€ase. The grea t.est part of this work
is to be done after the flood eubRides.
11
The Second WPA District has six hundred me n ope rating out of
five stations assisting police and. EmE·rgency Commission in
iVheeline.
"iVPA workn·s hav e moved one tho'.lS'.lnd five hundr e d f:1milies
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from threatened. arePs a.nd had m!'l.de seven hundred emer{;enc:r
rec~cues of p ersom, trapped in homes.
11
Thirty workers on duty at New Martinsville are moving
relief co,mnodi ti es from warehouses thr eat ened by water. In
Moundsville :,.n d other Mnrshall Count::, towns, two hundred
WPA workers were moving families i n cooperation wi t h the
Soil Conser vati on Service , which furnished trucks, a mi •10
CCC camp em·ol.lees. Workers alBo wer e on dut y in McMechen
and Benwood.
11
I have been umcble to contact Bro ::ike r- nd Hancock Counti f.: s
where more wo:ckers ere on duty.
11 Fourth
District r e-c arts 150 men p_nd 12 trucks in ':food and
Wirt County ere::i.s a nd 60 men a nd 3 tr,.1cks in Pleas a nts and.
Tyler Coun t y areas. lfo.jority of the se crews worke d al l
night and will continue, but h a ve the situation well in h .'.' nd
wi tho•.1t much loss of pr oper t y a nd. no los ~ of lif e ,
lfFifth District reriorts 100 on duty n.t Point PL·asant , nc::xt
city b 0lo w P 2rkersburg . V!orkmun r>,lso assisting smaller
communities e.lo ng the riv1:;r. t{untington has 600 men in
thr ee shifts under direction of Ci vie Committ e e wor:.Cing out
of tSmerg,sncy st a tio ns , 8alls for assistri.nce come to centrA.l
point a nd our acti vi tics principally of moving famili es in
danger aree.s and p rot1:; cting p rop erty. We ::,.re st~mding by
r eo.dy to as s ist Ce:r c, do and Kenova. No word from Cu mberland
and Potomac r; c ctions in WPA District Numb e r Ont et Elkins.
"No emergencJ mL a sure s needed in Gr a nt, Eardy, P endl e ton,
Randolph and Tucke r Counties as flood waters subsiding but
unable to cornmunicRte with other five counties.
n1ittle work is n ece ssar-;.- in the two inl~nd WPA districts,
Sixth at ChP.,1·l es ton and Third at Lewisb;.irg.
ChP..rle~;ton
had twenty-four men and fo'..ll' trucks nelping to move
families. 11
State Works Progi·ess Administrator Dr. Carl Watson of 0:-,io, communicated
with Mr. Hopkins as follows:
ttFour thous ,..:nd emnloyes of the l7orks Prc t res s Ad.ministr r. tion
in Ohio spe e dil:v mobilized to meet the emergency, have worked
ef fec ti vel;f t;:1i s week to S/'l.Ve lives, protect p roner ty and
r•3lief d.irtress in fourteen counties along the flood. swollen
Ohio ?. i ver.
"In East LivET '?ool, Ste11benville, I.forietta n.nd other communities where th e cr e st of the flood has nt=1sse d, the 'ATA men
todP.,y ar e directing the ir energies to rehab ilitation work.
"In Pome roy, Gallipolis, Ironton, Portsmouth anrl othe r towns
where the river is at or nr:o ar r e (!ord hei ,c.;ht today, WPA
employes . ar e~'hattling to hold bn.ck the menacine: i'ratfers, aiding
•
D1g1t1ze A'.}'. :t
nd.. ;
id'
th
.. ...ci-f. OT1~1na1 ram 'th
~5ITTfl~ffi VN1\1E~s11 Yprov ing ous ~
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food, clothing and bedding.
".And further down the river, nea r Cincinnat i, where the dn.nger
wil l be g r eates t on Sunda,y en d Monday, the WP.A forces st and
re ady to meet the threat with p romp t, effe ct ive acti on. In
all their work, they a re coopera ting to the fullest extent
with other relief agencies , public and nriv a te. jJever before,
it is believed, has a major flood di1-aster in Ohio caused sc
small a toll in human lives a..11d human suffering. For t his
f act the efforts of WPA a.'1d other e,gencies q r e held chi efly
responsible.
"When vrord re ached Columbus Tuesd_a,y night tha t Pittsburgh was
ab out to expe rience the greatest flo od in its history, State
Headqu a rters of the WPA in Colu111bu.s swung into acti on a.t once.
"Dir ect or s of Districts Thre e flnd Four, wher e the danger would
be g re atest and most irr,med i qt e in Columbi Ma, Jeff er s on,
Belmont and Monroe Counties were i ns tructed to take al l necessary steps to p revent lo ss of life and p roperty. Hundreds of
WPA workers were taken from their regul a r duties on p rojects
and ass i gned to th e emergency work.
"Crews of men were sent a long the riv ,:: r to warn f amili es in
the thre a tened a rea and to help them in moving their h~usehold
goods to safe p l aces . Practically all r es idents were out of
dange r before the crest cf t he flood a rrived. A fe w were
rescued in bo a ts. Other crews pl a ced sand b ags to strengthen
floo d walls a long the river.
11
At Mariett a , where the water reached a del'.lth of more than nine
fe et in the business section and severa l resi1 en ti a l districts,
three WPA crevrs of 50 to 1 00 men e a ch, vrorked in eight-hour
shifts during the danger p eriod. Sorne two hundred families were
moved to temporary quarters ir. schools -':Ind other public buildings
on high t;r ou nd. More than one hundr 0d other f P.. milies, in more
substanti al homes, were hel~ed to move their furniture to the
second or third floors of their houses.
"Meanwhile, employcs in the Procurement Department a t Columbus
headq_u,g_.r t ors, worked night and dey to organize and direct the
distribution on food, clothing And othe r supplies to flood
sufferers. Motor trucks from ell parts of the State wore
mobiliz ed a.11d sent into the flood areas with tons of mo~t, beans
aJ1d other food, and uri th thousands of articlos of clothing n..'1d
b edding, including m~.t tresses, comfort0rs, sheets, pillow cases,
rubb e r boots for ,~,orl:ers and dresses and night garments for
women and chil dren r efugees .
"Soup kitchens were esta blished and su · :,plied a t Bridgep ort,
M-'3.rtins Ferry, Bellc1,ire, Marietta, Pomeroy, Portsmouth an d
other stricken communities.
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as pilots, the Co2.st Guardsmen in charge of these boa ts imrnediat ely
began patrolling the waters on both the Ohio and West Virginia
side~ of the river.
Women workers on WPA projects were assigned. to the duty of
cooking, serving and washing dishes in food kitchens throughout the flood district, and to sorting clothing for distribution among refugees. In a number of towns, WPA operated trucks
hauling drinking water from nearby communities where the sources
of supply were above the danger of flood water contamination. 11
11
In a brief telegraphic report, Harry W. Witters, Works Progress Administrator for Vermont, stated:
"Approximately two thousand men are employed on emergency flood
work. The tyPes of work include emergency day and night patrol
on flooded highways, emergency protection and rep airs to
bridges and highways, temporary replacement of road,.vays, removal of debris and mud from streets for health protection.
Conditions worse than in 1927 flood were, undoubtedly, prevented
by flood control projects at East Barre and Wrightsville constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps. 11
11
In a telegraphic report, Field Representative R. C. Branion for the
New England States, informed Mr. Hopkins that some fine work was done in
Me.nche s ter c:tnd Concord, New HaJn pshire, by Wl-A worker s und er th e dir ec tion of
WPA Dist:r:ict Engineer, Major Roberts.
In Manchester, Mr. Eranion explained, local authorities had given up the
bridge across the Merrimac River.
11
Fortunately 11
,
Mr. Branion added,
11
it was possible due to Major Roberts'
special knowledge and the availability of a large number of WPA workers to
sandbag the banks of the river to relieve the pressure of the flood waters
on a weakening abutment.
As the result the bridge is still standing and the
danger is apparently passed.
ff
Al though the flood waters are subsiding, it will be another week before
the waters have gone do~m sufficiently to permit of cleaning up and reconstruction work.
The WPA workers seem happy over the opportunity to be of such
real service to their communities in this time of stress.
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"The situation in Concord is as bad as, if not worse than Manchester,
but everything possible is being done by the authorities.
WPA workers is being used effectively.
The labor of
Concord has been cut off , both up
and down stream, and has been out of com~unication with the surrounding
country.
11
In Hartford, Connecticut, the situation seems to be under control and
WPA workers are cooperating in mov ing families from flooded areas.
Their
chief opporhmity for service will come about a week af ter the flood waters
have subsided sufficiently to permit of cleaning up streets, cella rs and
basements.
11
The flood has subsided consid erably in Binghampton, New York, and WPA
workers are now helping to pump out cellars in ord er to take the necessary
steps to prevent disea se.
11
of
WPA
In the New England and the New York State flooded areas, the services
workers will be needed on flood clean-up work for probably th e next
three or four weeks. 11
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