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Climate Adaptation

U.S. Disaster Response Isn’t Ready for Actual National Disaster

The country’s disaster preparedness plan did not anticipate a nationwide event, the chief of an aid group says.

Heavy damage in the East Nashville neighborhood on March 3 after a tornado passed through the area.

Heavy damage in the East Nashville neighborhood on March 3 after a tornado passed through the area.

Photographer: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images North America

A tornado touched down on March 28 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, flattening several streets worth of buildings and injuring 22 people. Normally, such a disaster would be all over the news, and volunteers would get the alert to rush into action.

These aren't normal times, and the local sheriff begged everyone to stay home.