Cooperative Living October 2022 - 24

THROWBACK
The Great eather W
by Priscilla Knight, Contributing Writer
When Americans battled the weather to stay alive
S
ummer 2022 was hot. But despite this year's blistering
heat, floods, fires and storms, weather during the
1930s was worse. During that decade, many of our
grandparents had to confront the Great Depression and the
brewing Second World War, and a great weather war.
" The most extraordinary meteorological decade in recorded
U.S. history challenged almost every American, especially
people in the Great Plains, " says Rick
Vaughan, an amateur meteorologist from
Fairfax, Va.
" The immense meteorological stories
of the 1930s are interwoven with the
unstoppable optimism and sheer grit of
homesteaders who went to the Plains to
carve out a living, only to be swallowed
up by weather. "
RECORD COLD AND HEA
Much of the country froze and baked during the 1930s.
East Coast rivers and the Chesapeake Bay became ice bound in
February 1936. Windy Washington felt like minus 85 degrees.
Major blizzards lead to major flooding when snow melted
and Noah-like rain fell in March 1936. Treetop-high water
covered Hains Point in the nation's capital. Runways at
Washington-Hoover Airport, where the Pentagon sits today,
disappeared.
July 1936 remains the warmest U.S. month ever recorded.
Marylanders sweltered in 109 degrees. Houses, apartments,
factories and offices felt like ovens. Rural Americans did not
have electricity to run fans. Nearly 5,000 people died.
DROUGHT AND DUS
Along with high heat came drought and dust storms. The
fruited Plains' soil desiccated in 1930 from the worst drought
in 1,000 years. Harsh winds that picked up dry, friable soil
created enormous 40-60 mph " black blizzard " and " black
roller " dust storms.
In 1934, more than 12 million tons of dirt rained on
22 ● Cooperative Living ●
October 2022
Chicago before masking New York City and Boston. A black
blizzard hid the sun over Capitol Hill.
The 1938 drought parched three-quarters of American land.
People died from dust pneumonia, hunger and poverty. Many
families gave up. Between 1930 and 1940, some 3.5 million
people, about 25%, left the Plains. Newcomers in Eureka, Calif.,
received a Christmas gift in 1935 - the start of 26 consecutive
days of rain.
In 1936, dust in Dallas, S.D.,
buries farm equipment.
NATURAL DISASTERS
While dust swirled in the Plains,
horrendous hurricanes and terrifying
tornados swirled east of the Mississippi River.
A record 20 named hurricanes hit in 1933.
The category 5 Labor Day hurricane in 1935
stands as the most pressure-intense Atlantic
storm to smack the U.S. Its deadly 185-mph
winds and 250-mph gusts cut from Florida to Maryland.
Seventeen deadly tornados ripped through the South in 1936.
THE NEXT GREATEST THING
After fighting extreme weather, millions of rural Americans
jumped at the opportunity to borrow money from President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's Rural Electrification Administration
to form electric cooperatives and finally get " the electric. "
Farmers erected utility poles and strung power lines to
villages and farms. Co-op power helped them stay cool in
summer and warm in winter.
After gazing at his light-filled house and barn, a farmer
proclaimed in his church, " Brothers and sisters, I want to tell
you this: The greatest thing on Earth is to have the love of God
in your heart, and the next greatest thing is to have electricity
in your house. "
The 1930s delivered extraordinary weather, but the decade
also brought power to brighten lives and help Americans
endure severe weather. Electricity was " the next greatest thing "
then and is worth appreciating this month during National
Co-op Month. 
co-opliving.com
PHOTO COURTESY USDA
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living October 2022

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