Story highlights Julian Zelizer: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma highlight how much victims depend on the government before, during and after a natural disaster

Supporting regulations that combat climate change is one of the biggest ways that the Trump administration can help citizens in hurricane zones, Zelizer writes

Julian Zelizer is a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University and the author of "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society." He's also the co-host of the "Politics & Polls" podcast. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) As Hurricane Irma moves ominously closer to Florida's shores and Texas continues digging out from the wreckage of Hurricane Harvey, Americans are reminded how much government matters. Devastating natural crises such as these, like others in our history, instantly remind us why President Ronald Reagan's famous maxim -- "government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem" -- was so wrong.

When natural disasters strike, we depend on all levels of government to save us. Since Lyndon Johnson's presidency, as the historian Gareth Davies has shown, the federal government has taken a much larger role in dealing with natural disasters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, created in 1978 under President Jimmy Carter, remains on the front lines of helping guide citizens through the horror of these weather emergencies. FEMA coordinates the transmission of information about the storm and then turns to the search-and-rescue mission. State and local government officials make sure that residents are moved around and evacuated as safely as possible, while first responders will be there in the hours after a hurricane hits to help people find the medical assistance they need and to find safe shelter. The National Guard is often called in to ensure order. Federal insurance offers affected citizens a lifeline to rebuild their homes and their lives once the storm is gone.

The government is also needed before these kinds of weather emergencies begin. Sound preparation, at the state and local level, can improve the odds that most citizens will be able to find adequate shelters when there is no electricity, limited food and gas shortages.

The state and local government can impose strict zoning rules, particularly in coastal states, to minimize the kind of damage that these storms can cause. In 2015, for instance, President Barack Obama had issued the Federal Flood Risk Mitigation Standard, which required that projects funded by federal dollars had to implement stricter measures to prevent water damage.

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