Ex- FEMA director: Harvey will test Trump

Presidents using their voices to help America through natural disasters is now standard. It’s expected. As natural disasters increase in frequency and size due to climate change and are coupled with wall-to-wall news coverage, presidents must use the bully pulpit to prepare a new generation for this new normal.

President Trump, facing his first historic national disaster, has already started speaking up and saying some of the right things. After the storm, it is also important for the president to go to the scene as soon as practical. The White House has said he will visit on Tuesday.

Trump’s trip will help reassure Texans that the resources of the federal government will be there — and stay there — for as long as they are needed in the recovery and rebuilding stages. His visit will also be critical to the morale of relief workers, who need to know that Washington has their backs as the long process unfolds. A presidential visit often brings together officials from different jurisdictions who would not normally be communicating.

Trump appointed Brock Long to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Long is an excellent and experienced choice who knows what buttons to push, and when, to get things done. It is Long ’s day-to-day responsibility to support local and state efforts to house and feed those who cannot go home and get the lights turned back on, the toilets working, the roads cleared and the schools open.

This is a long process. We are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina 12 years later.

Part of the new normal is also helping prepare our nation for the effects of climate change. The president needs to talk about redesigning infrastructure in storm-vulnerable areas in ways that allow them to withstand storms, not merely endure them. We need to hear about mitigation: how we can move our building and planning efforts away from the endless damage-then-repair cycle to a reflexive practice of building new and improving existing infrastructure.

We must also educate adults and children alike on how to prepare for and then cope with this new normal. These events traumatize both equally, and parents focusing on getting a home back in order often do not recognize the stresses that impact kids. Over the past year, I’ve been working with The Hero in You Foundation to develop a free, interactive system designed for children, one that offers safety tips and coping devices when it comes to natural disasters.

As Americans have coped with domestic natural disasters, the role of the president has long been one-dimensional.

Today, with larger storms and natural events becoming the new normal, the president has an opportunity to lead in different and more substantive ways.

Today, Trump can and must be the voice of calm leading recovery efforts. But to fully embrace his role, tomorrow Trump must also lead our nation in preparing for the new challenges brought by climate change.

James Lee Witt is a former White House Cabinet member and director of FEMA. He is the CEO of Witt Global Partners.