[doug from upland]

I might have found part of the answer. The governor asked for declaration of emergency on Saturday, Aug. 26. The President complied.

Bush Declares State of Emergency for Louisiana
By VOA News
28 August 2005

President Bush has declared a state of emergency for the Gulf Coast state of Louisiana, as it braces for the expected onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, set to make landfall on Monday.

Saturday's emergency declaration authorizes federal officials to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate assistance in several Louisiana parishes ...

========================================

What does it mean to "coordinate"? Were the Feds giving orders to the Louisiana National Guard? Were federal officials responsible for not getting water to those people for three days?

[hoboken109]

Wasen't the mayor of NO told to evacuate the city on friday ?
If thats the case , there is the big blame..

[Rokke]

"Were the Feds giving orders to the Louisiana National Guard?"

No. And they still aren't. That is the role of the Governor.

[ARCADIA]

What does it mean to "coordinate"?

That is when you want to claim credit without accepting responsibility. (I am still not sure how Homeland Defense fits into the org chart)

[america-rules]

"Saturday's emergency declaration authorizes federal officials to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate assistance in several Louisiana parishes ..."

This is code for "pay for all relief efforts" !

It also says "provide assistance" not take over all command and control !

I used to teach command and control and incident command and the top does "not" direct local forces. During any disaster each area is sectored out and there is one person in charge in each sector not the top or in this case the Feds !

A perfect case of this was on 9/11 when the Gov't had NY, PA and DC as sectors and the Feds provided support to each of them. The civilian world has a chain of command just like the military does !