A method for faster handling of state change notifications in a storage network such as storage area network (SAN). The method includes receiving a state change notification at a host. The notification is processed to identify a target device affected by a state change. The method includes cleaning an input/output (I/O) resource of the host of I/O operations associated with the target device. A new session request is transmitted from the host to the target device, such as the next communication from the host after receipt of the notification. The cleaning of the host's I/O resources may include killing or abandoning pending I/O operations related to the target device and may also include halting or stopping additional or future I/O operations to the target device. The method includes operating the affected target device to acknowledge the new session request and initiate a new session that includes refreshing target I/O resources.