FLOODS and landslides have caused great devastation in the region around Salerno, Italy.
The American people are keenly aware, as a result of their own recent experiences with hurricanes and floods, of the serious human sufferings that can be created by such a disaster. I wish to extend the sincere sympathy of the American people to our stricken friends in the Salerno area.
I have asked the Secretary of State to pursue every possible means to provide emergency relief, calling on the Secretary of Defense for any assistance his Department may give. The Director of the Foreign Operations Administration has also been notified to give every consideration to further measures of assistance.
Note: On November 1 the White House announced that the Italian Cabinet had expressed thanks for the offer of assistance, and that American voluntary relief agencies were actively cooperating with Italian authorities and the Italian Red Cross in the distribution of food, clothing, and medicine to the people of the Salerno area.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statement by the President on the Floods and Landslides in ltaly. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233105