Originally posted by Valhall
You're forgetting something.
The Gulf states declared themselves a disaster area and requested national emergency for their states when
Katrina was still offshore. They knew they were going to need help long before she hit.

Valhall, the states requesting declaration is not what I recollect - niether does this article from Aug 28th.
President Declares Disaster
Interesting that the article advocates evacuation to high ground.
An interesting dichotomy exists between the leadership of Barbour vs Blanco and the disparate results obtained - especially when considering the storm
damage is in many respects worse in Miss.
JIMC5499 has a point to ponder - time will tell.
I myself really wish politics would have been left out of this disaster, but thats not to be is it.