1927
Mississippi Flood
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 broke the banks and levees of the lower Mississippi River in early 1927, resulting in flooding of millions of acres and leaving 1.5 million people displaced from their homes. Although such a disaster did not fall under the duties of the Commerce Department, the governors of six states along the Mississippi specifically asked for Herbert Hoover in the emergency. President Coolidge appointed Hoover to coordinate the response to the flood. Hoover personally crisscrossed the Mississippi Valley, giving speeches and coordinating the response. He established over one hundred tent cities and a fleet of more than six hundred vessels, and raised $17 million (equivalent to $239.50 million in 2017). In large part due to his leadership during the flood crisis, by 1928, Hoover had begun to overshadow President Coolidge himself.