Given that the assumption above is correct, we all need to have what I'm calling "shovel-ready" legislation drafted and ready to hand to elected officials and their staff. Even better, it would be great to have worked with a legislator in advance of the disaster and had the legislation heard in committee. Even if it was never passed out of committee, there is a bill number attached to it and there has been some socialization of the legislation before a disaster occurs.
As part of the above, you need to have specific funding requests identified for operational or planning needs. Legislators will be drawn to the disaster response aspects of what you do, but now would be a good time to educate them on the benefits of disaster mitigation and preventing the types of damages that most recently happened.
