How could the FEDS possibly have known they were incompetent? If took a few days for that to become apparent when the reality didn't match with what the locals were telling them.
It is their job. I thought that the decision to create the huge bureaucracy known as the Department of Homeland Security was a mistake when the 'rats proposed it, but now I'm sure.
If terrorists had blown the levees, what should the response have been? Again, protect yourself. The government cannot do it for you.