The tornadoes that devastated the South last week have been called the deadliest natural disaster on American soil since Hurricane Katrina, but you wouldn’t know it, as Katrina received much more publicity.

The reason? The government has learned its lesson from both Katrina and the BP oil spill and is making strides in bettering their disaster response.

President Barack Obama waited 12 days to tour the Gulf Coast after the oil spill, but he took barely 40 hours to arrive in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the hardest hit area. There was one cry of “Help us!” last Friday from a man who watched the president motorcade roll through the remains, but it was hardly the wails of astonished anxiety shouted from New Orleans rooftops.

This was certainly a different kind of storm, demanding different means of response. And although disaster recoveries should be judged over months as opposed to days, the early signs of this operation suggest that lessons have been learned.

The Alabama National Guard has now increased the state active duty to call up soldiers and airmen to more than 1,500 in response to the tornadoes. The guards are across the northern and central parts of the state with a high concentration in Tuscaloosa.

The death toll stands at 349; Alabama officials said that included 250 in their state, with 39 in Tuscaloosa County. But authorities said that number could be a lot higher if it weren’t for the government’s swift response.

The Obama administration continued its aggressive response to the disaster. Five cabinet officials are touring the damage and recovery efforts to Alabama and Mississippi.

By late Thursday, Obama signed the disaster declaration for Alabama, and later did the same for Georgia and Mississippi. The declaration states that the government will pay 75 percent of the uninsured costs of repairing public buildings, such as damaged fire and police stations. Under the declaration, residents can qualify for modest recovery grants and businesses can apply for low-interest loans. The recovery effort will not be turned over to state and local officials, but because Alabama is facing serious budget shortfalls, millions of dollars in reconstruction aid will most likely be needed.

The biggest difference between this response effort and the ones of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill is that that there was no waiting around to see if the disasters were serious enough. This sense of urgency clearly paid off as a majority of the residents have been satisfied with the job that the government is doing.