“The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl” by Timothy Egan Essay

Introduction

The worst hard times in America as described by Timothy Egan in his book of the Untold Stories of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl best describes the occurrences of the disaster that hit America in the 1930s and the recent Hurricane Katrina of 2005. The occurrences of these two disasters are highly attributed to the negligence of man rather than the natural catastrophe.

The Dust Bowl and the Hurricane Katrina

The Dust Bowl, for example, was caused by the poor farming methods that were used by the citizens of the Great Plains of America. The intensive agricultural activities were triggered by the increase in food demand after the First World War. However, men did not consider the possibilities of creating a disaster out of this great opportunity. The government on the other hand did not put the necessary measures to safeguard the ecological status of the land. The government’s concern on such productive land in the establishment of good agricultural practices such as irrigation and use of good soil erosion prevention methods like the use of mulches that the farmers burned leaving the land barely exposed could have helped save the disaster. As a result of practicing agriculture and exposing soils in the fields during the drought, the topsoil which was loose was carried away by the strong winds blowing to the eastwards and southwards of America leaving behind a large cloud of dust. ¹

The federal government could have an influence in the activities carried out in the field but instead, they did not play their role. During the Dust Bowl, the government also failed to take care of the disaster, they did not have an adequate disaster management system which made several people leave their homes, several of whom were farmers. The migration was the largest in America whereby about 2.5 million people moved.

The migration was a hit in the economy of the United States as several people moved to be homeless in California, New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas where they lived jobless raising the level of unemployment in the US. The economy was also suppressed because of the pressure put on resources especially the social amenities in the state of migration by the ”Okies” as they were referred to by the host residents since they were believed to have come from Oklahoma.

Hurricane Katrina on the other hand is blamed to have caused so much damage and loss of human life due to the people’s negligence.² The Weather Forecast Department had predicted the possibilities of an occurrence of the Disaster but people did not respond to evacuations as expected. Although the government also failed to evacuate people in the wake of the Hurricane, the damage could not have been that much had the flood Levees constructed were standard to meet the public safety measures. The US Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the construction of the levees and they are blamed for not constructing them to cater to public safety during the hurricane.³

The government did not offer an immediate response to the disaster and also the denial of other helping bodies to offer their assistance was highly criticized. Racial discrimination was well shown during the Hurricane especially in the dome of New Orleans and Louisiana. The death of many blacks was blamed by the international community on racial discrimination in the United States. The rescue team was believed to discriminate against race and social class. The Hurricane caused an economic loss to the United States.⁴ The total damage was estimated at around 81.2 Billion US dollars and over 1800 people were left dead while several others were left without homes and food. The rate of unemployment increased in the affected cities as the Bush Administration and the world donors continue to fund the reconstruction of the affected states.

Conclusion

The Dust Bowl was perceived by many as the end of life in the great plains of America. This is clearly shown by the number of migration that is termed the largest ever to happen in America. The people did not have any future hopes in this place and the government could not hold them back. Contrary to Hurricane Katrina, where fewer people migrated and still people have moved back to their places as there is still hope for life and the federal government has shown more concern in bringing things back to normal and preventing further disasters in the future.

References

Leben, R. et al, Katrina’s Growth in Gulf of Mexico, Colorado: University of Colorado, 2006.

Paul, B. The Dust Bowl: Men Dirt and Depression, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1998.

Timothy, E. The Worst Hard Times, New York: Houghoton Mifflin Company, 2006.

Footnotes

1. Timothy, E. The Worst Hard Times, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
2. Timothy, E. The Worst Hard Times, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
3. Paul, B. The Dust Bowl: Men Dirt and Depression, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1998.
4. Leben, R. et al, Katrina’s Growth in the Gulf of Mexico, Colorado: University of Colorado, 2006.