1. The national government's involvement had everything to do with FEMA. The prevention plan for this area was not very thought out. Their staff had been reduced by 20% around this time, and funding had been cut as well. They were not equipped with the funds and help they needed to react to Hurricane Katrina. Their reaction actually took a total of 6 days to come to rescue. The state government took 3 days to come scope out the damages, and again a disaster plan was never established in this region. Press conferences were being done constantly, and the mayor of New Orleans was outraged. He was way too overwhelmed to even begin dealing with the disaster. The state government should have stepped in right away and aided them. The fact the leveys broke meant that the funding behind their only prevention attempt was not prioritized, and that those critical leveys were not maintained. Hurricane Katrina was literally a mess.
2. The local government knew that the huge natural disaster would be hitting soon. It should have been their job to get the city evacuated and the transportation provided to do so should have been all lined up. There was no hope of saving many of those people because they didn't have the vehicles to move everyone. They failed in that aspect. A plan should have been also made for an area at such high risk. The state government should have been monitoring the local government to make sure that the city's population was evacuated. After the storm hit, the national guard should have been sent in immediately. The state reacted slowly and didn't work with the local government to come up with disaster plans. FEMA, although their capabilities were slimmer, should have aided in a plan with the state and local governments. After all, they are the experts in these situations. They also took 6 days to respond to cries for help; why wait so long? People were starving, dehydrated, and dying. There is no reason that troops weren't sent in quicker. The casualties were a result of the storm, but caused by a lack of communication and connectedness among the levels of government.
3. The federal government should be aiding the public in natural disasters. We are not oblivious to when most of these tragedies will strike, therefore the preparation for them should be done quickly and effectively. Everyone needs to have a plan, 2 plans, maybe even 3 plans. You can never be too prepared for a disaster. FEMA, state, and local governments should be smart about it and work together. I do believe that after a disaster strikes, and it is of a high magnitude, the federal government should not waste a single second to go aid the region in need. If FEMA is needed, the state government should seek help if they feel like the problem at hand is too much to handle. There should be a chain of commands a region goes through, because I do not believe that the federal government is always needed.