Let’s look at your example of a hurricane. I live in hurricane country too.
Of everything that could be done for hurricanes, very little of it actually is. Yet, like you say, we are prepared. Why? Because having giant food pantries, home water tanks, neighborhood generators, etc. that are only used for a few days every decade just doesn’t make good financial sense. Its better to just suck up the inconvenience when it does happen, forgo some normal activity for a brief time, and deal with the consequences.
Atlanta actually has a grand total of seven snow plows, and a further 11 trucks that they can contract to spread sand/salt (of course you need to have the sand and salt stockpiled somewhere). Their primary plan should have been to hold the traffic off the major roads until it melted and to tell people to stay home, relax, and don’t block the roads to emergency traffic. Enourage business to close. But the mayor had no real plan, as you point out.
I’ve lived in the North and the South, been through major blizzards, ice storms, hurricanes, and a very frightening 4” of snow in Dallas (think demolition derby POV). At a certain point its just best to tell people to stay off the roads, but that takes a leader capable and willing to make decisions and then defend them.