There will be a very public hunt for the culprits of some crass cases of violence on the flooded streets. Perhaps there is some video from a TV helicopter, or some clips from a video mobile phone as sources of images. Nice distraction.

A lengthy congressional investigation into who did what wrong will reach the conclusion that a major overhaul of bureaucracy is necessary. Reshuffling of fiefdoms and responsibilities will ensue. Nothing substantial will result.

A federal emergency-overrule of local authorities will be installed, essentially creating the option for the central government to take direct and immediate military control over large areas.

Companies who produce rapid-deployment harsh-environment communication gear will have nice business coming. As is already visible, these systems will rely on VoIP and other IP tunneling of communications, instead of the old-style analog stuff. It remains to be seen wether these technologies are really reliable and sustainable under the conditions of major disasters.