I wrote a little on the government response to Katrina over at ZDNet's Government Technology blog.

Local governments usually get gold stars here. The feds have a harder time with it. Their strong suit is dropping in with boatloads of resources a few days after things hit. That's why diasaster recovery has usually come down to local management with Federal resources. Katrina seems to have set different expectations because its scope was so large and wiped out many of the resources that local responders rely on. 9/11 was an aberation because it took place in city with lots of local resources and strong governance (personified in Giuliani). Disasters of a similar scope that take place outside a few select cities will quickly overwhelm local resources and goverance capabilities.

From System administration at scale | ZDNet Government Blog | ZDNet.com
Referenced Wed Sep 07 2005 05:31:44 GMT-0600 (MDT)