>You said "...It is my understanding that the Feds had to wait for a request for assistance from the governor...". I've got a problem with this one. It seems clear to me from what I saw that help was needed there and fast. No need to wait for the governor.

Nope. In general, the Federal gov't will not overstep its bounds with State and local authorities until called upon. What the Federal gov't did do (Prez Bush) was to declare the gulf coast area of those 3 States a Federal disaster area 2 days before Katrina hit in order to get funding relief from the Feds there as quickly as possible. Still, the States and locals have to take advantage of that declaration.

Also, the individual State Governors control the deployment of their State National Guard as well as coordinate emergency efforts. Just look at hurricane disasters this year and last year in Florida, mud-slides and earthquakes in California, etc. All handled by local and State officials with strong leadership skills. See any blaming coming from those states? How do you evacuate 10s of thousands of people that you have little or no access to because most of an entire major city is flooded?

Even New Orleans has an Emergency Preparedness office and a formal written plan that they did not follow. Here is their emergency plan:

http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26

The problem on the Federal level is with the efforts of FEMA and the Department of Homeland (lack of) Security.