Roger Pielke Jr. on the utter failure of the federal government to be prepared to respond to Katrina:

The question that needs to be asked, and it is not too soon to begin asking, is why was the federal government so unprepared for the disaster in the face of robust scientific knowledge about the disaster at all time scales? This is especially in light of the fact that the government completely reorganized itself after 9/11 to improve the nation’s preparedness and response to catastrophes.