State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Federal Pullback, Climate Change Could Boost State Spending on Disasters

Stateline: NEW ORLEANS — The tornado hit the suburbs of east New Orleans at lunchtime on a mild Tuesday in February.

The twister spun across mid-century ranch houses still etched with the spray-painted symbols that search and rescue squads left after Hurricane Katrina. At its calmest, the tornado tugged at asphalt shingles. At its most vicious, it flipped parked cars and snatched entire roofs and walls from their frames.

The roughly 150 mph winds hopped over Chef Menteur Highway and blew out walls at a NASA assembly plant. By the time the tornado fizzled out over Lake Borgne, it had caused millions of dollars of damage. Together with a cluster of other windstorms, it yielded the seventh presidentially declared major disaster of 2017.

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