I find the comments most interesting. The thrust ranging from: Governments declared states of emergency, citizens panicked and bought lots of food/water they will probably never use, businesses boarded up buildings, events were cancelled: what is the cost of the United States' outdated weather forecasting technology?
To: When the current GOP Presidential flied is populated by climate deniers and anti science budget cutters what do we expect?
The first comment is often overlooked in budget analysis...not every Governmental expenditure results is revenue generation so as to lead to a balanced budget. Governments are fundamentally different than households. Its the Governments job to provide services even at a deficit.