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The response to Hurricane Francine is a good reminder of the partnership between Louisiana and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

However, as critical as FEMA is in disaster response, state and local governments are often so strapped for funds that they are forced to innovate in such crises—and quite often they are the most successful at solving these complex problems. As political leaders debate the merits of funding the federal government, the lessons of history serve as a reminder that most critical decisions in a crisis are not necessarily made in Washington, D.C. 

For decades, emergency response at the federal level was an administrative orphan, punted from one agency to another depending upon the politics of the day. This critical government function finally found a home when President Jimmy Carter signed into law the creation of FEMA in 1979.

Disasters can burnish the take-charge reputation of leaders who skillfully navigate them. They can also quickly lead to the end of once-promising political careers. 

These types of leadership challenges are only increasing. Since the founding of FEMA, the rate of presidentially declared disasters has increased steadily over time. 

But despite the federal government’s important role in disasters, innovation in disaster response and recovery often comes from local and state leaders. In the wake of 1992’s devastating Hurricane Andrew, Florida, and specifically Miami-Dade County, adopted some of the most advanced building codes in the world. Thirty-two years later, uttering the phrase “Miami-Dade” to a construction contractor means this home will be built to withstand dangerous winds.

Four months after catastrophic summer flooding in Vermont last year, the state’s largest electric utility announced it would install batteries in customers’ homes rather than incur the costly expense of rebuilding damaged power lines. The utility, Green Mountain Power, determined that rebuilding overhead power lines across the mountains would have been a fool’s errand, because these kinds of powerful storms are now the expectation.

In early 2023, the public school system in New Orleans announced the completion of a $2 billion construction program that rebuilt every public school in the city using federal funds in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The 2010 FEMA settlement that led to these newly constructed schools was innovative enough to meet aggressive green building standards and generate additional funds through historic preservation and other tax credits. The New Orleans schools’ settlement served as a precedent for FEMA  in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, leading to legislation that gave FEMA the ability to more flexibly respond to the needs of state and local governments.

The United States sits at a rare moment in history—the federal government has, for the first time since the mid-20th century, devoted massive investments toward improving the nation’s infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act total more funds than were devoted to President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and President Dwight Eisenhower’s interstate highway system combined, in inflation-adjusted dollars. 

The BIL and the IRA not only pay for building traditional infrastructure like bridges and roads, but also fund innovations that will prepare the nation for a more resilient future, like resilient energy sources and reliable mitigation strategies. 

These funds provide a rare opportunity to the “doers” of the United States to more efficiently do their work—building schools, bringing reliable electricity to rural communities, and preparing communities to be more resilient in the face of a less certain future. 

This piece was edited for length and style.

Paul Rainwater, senior consultant with Cornerstone Government Affairs, was chief of staff for Gov. Bobby Jindal and helped Gov. John Bel Edwards develop an appropriations strategy for federal response and long-term recovery plans after the historic floods of 2016. Ramsey Green, the former infrastructure chief for New Orleans, also contributed to this piece.

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