Florida Officials Say States & Local Government Had No Plan

The tried and true government experts that know best about hurricanes, how to prepare, and what to do after them to protect people have spoken:

Florida Disaster Officials Speak On Katrina

They are saying the local and state agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi had no real plan and the ones they did have were worthless:

"They were completely unprepared -- as bad off as we were before Andrew," one Florida official said.

Mississippi was in the middle of rewriting its disaster plan when Katrina struck.

Search teams from Florida were rescuing Mississippi victims before law enforcement officers there were even aware of the magnitude of the disaster.

Louisiana also lacked an adequate plan to evacuate New Orleans, despite years of research that predicted a disaster equal to or worse than Katrina. Even after a disaster test run last year exposed weaknesses in evacuation and recovery, officials failed to come up with solutions. "They're where we were in 1992

I think Governor Jeb Bush sums it up best:

"If we weren't prepared, and we didn't do our part, no amount of work by FEMA could overcome the lack of preparation," he said. Natural Hazards Center director Kathleen Tierney agreed...................................

Of all those who have spoken about the hurricane and why things went so wrong, I'll give those who have lived hurricane disaster relief and know what it takes to respond to them the most credibility to speak on this matter....................