Thankfully, Hurricane Rita, which hit coastal Texas and Louisiana over the weekend, was not at all as bad as the disaster visited upon the New Orleans region by Hurricane Katrina last month. The storm eased off before it hit the coast.
On most other scales of comparison, however, it had a devastating impact, with the mass exit of millions from Houston, Galveston and other cities, major loss of electricity and significant damage to its economic infrastructure. And there may be more storms this season and certainly next year, arising from higher temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico which more scientists are now convinced is caused by global warming.
These events have already fundamentally affected US politics and the political priorities for President Bush's second term. The estimated cost of rebuilding New Orleans is $200 billion - about the price of the Iraq war so far. Mr Bush has pledged to fund this from the federal budget, at one stroke becoming a big government spender - to the increasing dismay of many conservative supporters. Much better preparedness for Hurricane Rita and a more visible hands on approach by the president will help repair the political damage done by initial inaction and ineptitude after Katrina, his advisers hope. Delivering effectively on such a massive reconstruction programme by directing it towards greater entrepreneurship and self-help can restore his standing.
But other administration priorities, such as social security and pension reform and further tax cuts, have been sidelined, probably irretrievably. Iraq has become indelibly linked to Katrina by the apparent diversion of resources and energy needed at home. This shows up strongly in the latest opinion polls, with most Americans now believing the war was a mistake, disapproving of Mr Bush's handling of it and with more demanding withdrawal. The weekend demonstrations in Washington articulate a growing public sentiment recalling a similar dynamic in the late 1960s over Vietnam. Mr Bush has lost significant support among core supporters, although 80 per cent of Republicans still back him.
In making this effort he will ignore the increasing evidence linking the increased intensity and frequency of hurricanes to global warming at his peril. Research published in the US journal Science last week shows the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has nearly doubled over the last 25 years throughout the world's oceans. They draw their energy from warm sea water - and the hotter the water the stronger the storms. Human activity, and especially the burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal is raising global temperatures and heating the seas, creating an imperative need to prepare for its effects and take long-term action to counter them. Mr Bush has resisted this conclusion, unsurprisingly in a country with 5 per cent of the world's population consuming over 25 per cent of its annual fossil fuel energy. Hurricane Rita is a warning to the centre of US oil production that this is not sustainable.