I don't want federal officials watching tv during a crisis such as this. I want them getting accurate info from on the scene sources such as the mayor of NO and governor of LA and other official channels. Perhaps in hindsight it would have been better to tune in to Fox, or maybe even CNN, but is that how government is supposed to run?
They don't necessarily have to credit every report they see as accurate to recognize the news teams may be on to something and send a team to check it out. Presumably they had small teams of officials deployed throughout the area (boots on the ground) to look into problems.
Why were't they checking it out? I don't know but the excuse that the state authorities didn't tell them rings hollow to me.