When a Storm Comes, Government Should Already Be Ready

This weekend, a major winter storm is impacting 44 states, including North Carolina. In NC-09, families are bracing for freezing temperatures, ice accumulation, dangerous roads, and potential power outages.

We’ve all seen the familiar advice: stock up on supplies, limit travel, check on neighbors. That guidance matters—but it raises a bigger question we can’t keep ignoring:

Why are communities still expected to shoulder the burden alone when extreme weather is no longer the exception, but the norm?

Preparedness Is a Policy Choice

Severe winter storms, hurricanes, floods, and heat waves are happening more often and with greater intensity. This isn’t unpredictable. Scientists, emergency planners, and local officials have been sounding the alarm for years.

Yet too many communities—especially rural counties, working-class neighborhoods, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities—remain vulnerable when storms hit.

Preparedness isn’t just about individual responsibility. It’s about:

• Grid resilience so power stays on

• Emergency shelter capacity that’s accessible and well-staffed

• Clear communication before, during, and after disasters

• Rapid federal response when state and local resources are stretched thin

Where FEMA Fits In

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) exists for moments exactly like this. 

But across the country, FEMA has been:

• Underfunded

• Politicized

• Forced to react instead of prepare

Disaster relief too often becomes a fight after communities are already hurting—after pipes burst, after homes are damaged, after people are displaced.

We need FEMA to be fully funded, modernized, and empowered to:

• Pre-position resources before storms hit

• Support local governments with planning and infrastructure upgrades

• Respond faster and more equitably when disasters strike

Preparedness saves lives—and it saves money.

Leadership Is More Than a Press Release

Public safety updates are important. But leadership means asking harder questions and pushing for solutions before the next storm.

Why are some counties still one storm away from a crisis? Why are rural communities and communities of color hit hardest and last to recover? Why does disaster aid take months—or years—to reach families who need it now?

Those are the questions I’m asking—not just this weekend, but every day.

As North Carolinians were preparing for icy roads, power outages, and school closures, our current representative, Richard Hudson, offered little more than social media statements urging people to “stay safe.” Words matter—but action matters more.

Leadership means:

• Advocating before disasters hit for resilient infrastructure

• Securing funding for emergency preparedness and grid reliability

• Ensuring local governments and first responders have what they need

• Demanding accountability when systems fail

Too often, Congress reacts after disaster strikes—if it reacts at all.

People First Means Being Ready

In NC-09, we take care of one another. We check on our neighbors. We do our part.

But we also deserve a federal government that does its part—one that invests in resilience, protects working families, and treats disaster preparedness as a responsibility, not a reaction.

Storms will keep coming.

The question is whether we’ll keep being caught unprepared—or finally decide to lead.  North Carolina deserves representation that takes preparedness seriously.

Because when the storm hits, leadership should already be in place.

Nigel Bristow

Candidate for U.S. Congress, NC-09