After being in the P&C business for too many years, I can say that no company/city/county/state and especially the feds will never come close to being able to handle what DC went through or any other disaster. There are a few reasons and one is money and another is the almight bonus for the upper echelon. If you take into account the cost of plow equipment alone, cost of training and the upkeep of something you may only use once a year it is cost prohibitive. P&C for years have cut back on staffing for the sake of the bottom line and when major disasters hit they are always caught flat footed in claims handling. Do you think that they will ever staff up in case of another ‘Big One”? NO. Same goes for the underwriting cutbacks. Where is the defense for good busines. Underwriting has been hit worse than claims. The answer by P&C is raise rates instead of hiring staff to write good business and have qualified claims staff to handle the losses properly and timely.