We are not ready for El Niño — here’s how we can be

This piece from The Hill taps into a recurring tension in American governance: the gap between knowing a risk is coming and actually doing something about it. El Niño is not a surprise. Meteorologists have tracked its patterns for decades, and its broad strokes are often predictable months in advance. Yet as the article suggests, predictability does not automatically translate into preparedness. Budget cycles, political attention spans, and competing priorities all slow the machinery of response. The essay’s core argument—that we still have time—is both a warning and an invitation. The commentary rightly avoids framing this as purely a partisan issue. Disaster preparedness is one of the few areas where conservative and liberal voters often share common ground, at least in principle. Conservatives may emphasize local control, personal responsibility, and cost-effectiveness, while progressives may push for federal investment and social safety nets. But both sides can agree that a bridge washed out or a levee overtopped is a failure of foresight, not just of weather. The challenge is translating that shared concern into concrete funding decisions before the crisis, not after. There is also a deeper question here about how societies handle probabilistic threats. Unlike a hurricane making landfall in 48 hours, El Niño’s effects are diffuse and varied. Some regions may see flooding, others drought, and still others relatively mild conditions. That uncertainty makes it easier for leaders to delay. The article’s plea for action is therefore not just about infrastructure—it is about the psychology of risk. We tend to respond to vivid, immediate disasters, not to slow-moving forecasts that require imagination. Of course, there are legitimate counterarguments. Over-preparation can waste resources, and forecasts are not guarantees. A community that spends millions on flood defenses may end up with a dry season. But the author’s point is that the cost of readiness is often far smaller than the cost of recovery. As the piece notes, the window to act is still open. Whether policymakers choose to walk through it will tell us a great deal about how seriously we take the science of prediction. Source: https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/6079052-el-nino-disaster-preparedness/