If there were ever any doubt about how stupid Bob Herbert is

"SEARCH AND RESCUE IS A LOCAL RESPONSIBILITY, NOT FEDERAL "
CounterColumn

I know that he's responding there to a specific editorial from Bob, but it begs the question. The fed's have to be aware the LOCAL OFFICIAL, are the one that are hardest hit, and in this case, completely over run, and swamped by this disaster. You have to imagine that those responsible local officials, are going to be short handed, local supplies destroyed or unreachable and or operating blind with a plan that fails.
What are they supposed to do, after the fact, and in the predicament they found themselves.
How were those local officials going to be expected to have the capability to respond to a disaster of this magnitude without the fed.
How about the fed's responsibility to contain the damage and protect vital national interest.

Is this the best that I can expect from the fed if the disaster in question was at my location? I remember that during Andrew we waited a week (5 days) for the fed to show up. I was under the impression that that, and 9/11 had driven home the message and reforms had been put in place to fix it. New departments and Secretaries were born. Fancy new plans were put in force.
Then came katrina, and they waited a week (5 days) for the fed to show up.

So is this the best we should all expect from the fed.
If that's the case, well they should warn people that they need to have at least a weeks (5 days) supply of "modern world", in dry storage at all times.