Hurricane Agnes struck the United States in June of 1972, just months before a pivotal election and at the dawn of the deindustrialization period across the Northeast. The response by local, state, and national officials had long-term consequences for all Americans. President Richard Nixon used the tragedy for political gain by delivering a generous relief package to the key states of New York and Pennsylvania in a bid to win over voters. After his landslide reelection in 1972, Nixon cut benefits for disaster victims and then passed legislation to push responsibility for disaster preparation and mitigation on to states and localities. The impact led to the rise of emergency management and inspired the development of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
With a particular focus on events in New York and Pennsylvania, Timothy W. Kneeland narrates how local, state, and federal authorities responded to the immediate crisis of Hurricane Agnes and managed the long-term recovery. The impact of Agnes was horrific, as the storm left 122 people dead, forced tens of thousands into homelessness, and caused billions of dollars in damage from Florida to New York. In its aftermath, local officials and leaders directed disaster relief funds to rebuild their shattered cities and reshaped future disaster policies.
Playing Politics with Natural Disaster explains how the political decisions by local, state, and federal officials shaped state and national disaster policy and continues to influence emergency preparedness and response to this day.
Spis treści
Introduction: Local Disasters, Government Actors, and National Policy
1. American Disaster Policy through 1972: Growing Benefits and Expanding Federal Authority
2. Agnes Makes Landfall: Death and Destruction in New York and Pennsylvania, 1972
3. Who’s in Charge? Local Governments Collapse in the Face of Disaster
4. Playing Politics with Disaster: Relief Efforts and the 1972 Election
5. 'I Have a HUD-Ache’: Public Discontent over Disaster Aid
6. 'Better Than Ever’? Rebuilding amid Industrial Decline
7. Without Warning and Defenseless: The Weather Service and Civil Defense before and after Hurricane Agnes
8. The Risky Business of Flood Control: When Dams and Levees Put People at Risk
9. The Disaster Relief Act of 1974: Richard Nixon and the Creation of Emergency Management
Epilogue: Into the Future
O autorze
Timothy W. Kneeland is Professor and Chair of History and Political Science at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, and the author of several other books, including Pushbutton Psychiatry, Today’s Social Issues, and Buffalo Blizzard of 1977. Follow him on X @CPH_Naz.
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