The Nation's Responses To Flood Disasters: A Historical Account

PREFACE
One will only have to read a few pages of the following text to realize that a
professional historian did not prepare it. Encouraged by Gilbert F. White and with
support from the Compton Foundation, this report was prepared by a water resources
engineer with a long interest in our nation’s responses to flood disasters. It expands on
my previous reports about floodplain management history in the United States that I
wrote to understand what happened before I became involved in the field during the late
1960s.
The goal of this undertaking was to produce a balanced and accurate account of
the forces and events that have changed floodplain management in the United States
during the past 150 years. While I view it as a reasonably accurate portrayal of what
happened, it is not balanced. It does not give adequate credit to non-federal
contributions. It does not adequately document the overall impacts of the National Flood
Insurance Program. My contacts and sources revealed that usable or readily available
information about these subjects has not been compiled. A number of other subjects may
also not be adequately treated.
Each chapter represents a specific time period that reflects certain broad policy
and management trends. The quotes highlighting each chapter are passages from the text
that I felt captured the essence and overall direction of the eras covered.
No historical description could ever be considered complete. Further inquiry and
research will always reveal additional information that should be included. In this
instance, the project was completed during a short time with limited resources.
The following report is not an exhaustive account of what has happened, but
rather a starting point. I hope that others, particularly professional historians, will take it,
correct historical inaccuracies, and build on this work. All responsibility for the facts,
interpretations, and conclusions in this document rests with the author.
I have immensely enjoyed being part of the floodplain management community
for more than 30 years and hope to continue to be actively involved well into the 21st
century.
James M. Wright
Knoxville, Tennessee
April 2000