I have certainly never been in a major leadership position and sent an e-mail that read, "Should I be doing anything?"
I draft every professional e-mail (i.e. every e-mail I send through my work account) as if it was going to be read on Fox News that night, and then Limbaugh the next morning.
Perhaps in the wake of such a huge disaster, and monumental undertaking, he was looking for comic relief, and to give the same to his co-workers. Sometimes humor is a good buffer in a terribly stressful situation.