Reid About It

From CNN.com: Chertoff said FEMA is not equipped to send large numbers of people to help during a disaster. Instead, he said, "FEMA basically plugs in to the existing state and local infrastructure. What happened here was, essentially, the demolishment of that state and local infrastructure and, I think, that really caused a cascading series of breakdowns."

So FEMA's grand scheme of things was to work with the local agencies who are already in place? Their big emergency plan was to piggyback on people who were already living in a catastrophe area? I would think if your organization was in charge of national disasters, shouldn't somebody have the forethought to surmise there just might be a situation or two where the local folks might be out of touch, having difficulties, or even been forced to relocate to Houston?

If Fema was in charge of emergencies all over the country, firemen would have electric hoses they'd have to plug in to the burning houses, and policemen would have coin-operated guns.