WI Great New England Hurricane of 1938 impetus for US Office of Civil Defense?

In the United States, traditionally civil defence was largely during WW1 and WW2, as well as the Cold War vis-à-vis atomic attacks. However, in peacetime there have been ample opportunities to set up a coördinating body for civil defence efforts, such as the 1904 San Francisco earthquake. For the sake of the OP and the WI, I'm using the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 as the POD here, not only because it is an important event in local history, but also since many people were unprepared for dealing with hurricanes (not helped by the Weather Bureau's bad forecasting).

So, how would the Office of Civil Defense operate if the 1938 hurricane was the impetus?

Anyone interested?

Well, IOTL Fiorello LaGuardia was head of the OCD, and if NYC was affected, this could put him in a position to advocate things. It should be noted that CD's focus wasn't as much on natural disasters as on nuclear war till around the time of FEMA.

Orville_third said:

Well, IOTL Fiorello LaGuardia was head of the OCD, and if NYC was affected, this could put him in a position to advocate things.

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As it turned out, NYC was affected as it got the western edge of the storm (thereby getting the brunt of the storm). I guess if it were more nasty, i.e. the East River flooding out huge areas of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn (which is actually easier than you think, since a good portion of it is low-lying) and/or the winds being a bit more nasty towards Manhattan.

Orville_third said:

It should be noted that CD's focus wasn't as much on natural disasters as on nuclear war till around the time of FEMA.

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In OTL, yes. In TTL, CD's focus is going to be a bit more broad-based due to the New England Hurricane of 1938.