The Marquis of Pombal was the prime minister of Spain during the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Though he later turned out not to be a very nice guy (to say the least), he sure did know how to handle natural disaster situations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquakeIf I were president, I'd put everything else on the side, marshall every possible resource in the nation, get them down to the Gulf Coast like this very minute; confiscate, if necessary, equipment from companies like Halliburton to deal with the crisis. Basically, throw everything including the kitchen sink to deal with the problem. Then I'd initiate an immediate program to shore up every possible natural disaster area in the country: improved levees along the Mississippi, strengthened buildings in California fault-line areas, you name it. Whatever it took to safeguard the nation from devastating damage from natural disasters.
Unfortunately, we live in another reality.