Before the Tennessee Valley Authority, life in the Tennessee River Valley was marked by continual flooding that damaged homes, farms, and entire towns and stripped away fertile soil, dangerous and unpredictable river navigation, and diseases such as malaria, smallpox, and typhoid fever that took many lives. Around Guntersville, only 3 in 100 farms had electricity, making daily tasks difficult. Franklin D. Roosevelt, influenced by his interest in using dams in New York to create affordable power and working with Nebraska Senator George Norris, helped make a similar plan for the Tennessee Valley a reality after becoming president in 1933 and launching the New Deal. As part of that program, he signed the act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA was charged with improving flood control, river navigation, and agricultural practices throughout the Tennessee Valley, and its work also brought hydroelectric power. In 1933, TVA began building Norris Dam between the Clinch and Powell Rivers in Tennessee. By 1944, it had completed 16 dams and employed more than 50,000 workers in one of the largest U.S. hydropower construction programs ever. TVA also completed a 652-mile shipping channel from the Ohio River to Knoxville, Tennessee, increasing regional trade by more than 400 percent in a decade and helping drive jobs, growth, and renewed hope across the valley.