America is remaking its disaster-relief system
The administration hopes to undo perverse incentives
Five years ago the people of Calcasieu Parish had their annus horribilis. Within ten miserable months this corner of south-west Louisiana earned the unenviable distinction of four presidential disaster declarations. In August 2020 came Hurricane Laura, a storm so vicious that it peeled roofs from homes as if they were lids on tin cans. Buildings swayed like cruise ships and devices to measure windspeed broke. Next came Hurricane Delta, then Uri, a winter storm, then a bad bout of flooding. After Joe Biden stepped in, government men in polo shirts and khaki trousers arrived with chequebooks. An area built by oil, gas and petrochemicals was rebuilt partly by Uncle Sam.
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