The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 broke the banks and levees of the lower Mississippi River in early 1927 , resulting in the flooding of millions of acres and leaving 1.5 million people displaced from their homes . Although disaster response did not fall under the duties of the Commerce Department , the governors of six states along the Mississippi River specifically asked President Coolidge to appoint Hoover to coordinate the response to the flood . Believing that disaster response was not the domain of the federal government , Coolidge initially refused to become involved , but he eventually acceded to political pressure and appointed Hoover to chair a special committee to help the region . Hoover established over one hundred tent cities and a fleet of more than six hundred vessels , and raised $ 17 million ( equivalent to $ million in ) . In large part due to his leadership during the flood crisis , by 1928 , Hoover had begun to overshadow President Coolidge himself . Though Hoover received wide acclaim for his role in the crisis , he ordered the suppression of reports of mistreatment of African Americans in refugee camps . He did so with the cooperation of African-American leader Robert Russa Moton , who was promised unprecedented influence once Hoover became president
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Herbert Hoover