Quote: Sor, your telling me the blame falls squarely on the local and state? Come on, Tim! When you have the director of Fema stating that, "he did not know people were trapped in the convention center." Even though news about the center was being broadcasted all over the world.
You're apparently very confused on what the role of the federal government, in particular FEMA, is supposed to be in the event of a natural disaster...
Emergency Response is a local government responsibility. FEMA doesn't make evacuation plans, and NOAA sure as hell doesn't, cities do. FEMA doesn't execute evacuation plans, cities do (though FEMA can announce federally-mandated ones, but can't enforce them on its' own). FEMA doesn't clean-up cities after the fact, cities do. FEMA doesn't enforce laws when lawlesness breaks out, cities do.
The role of the federal government in the case of a natural disaster is very minimal. It consists primarily of monetary assistance as well as experience. FEMA is just a bunch of egghead experts on disaster recovery who lend their experience and knowledge to help and a big bank account to pay for things. That's all.
That's not to say that the federal government didn't have their fair share of mistakes, but their mistakes wouldn't have direcly caused any of the problems that I get the feeling you think they would have.
You might want to read the webpage of the New Orleans Disaster Management Office:
Quote: We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to citywide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan. All requests for federal disaster assistance and federal funding subsequent to disaster declarations are also made through this office.
