Check out this article on CNN:
The big disconnect on New Orleans
The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version
Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday. The sanitized view came from federal officials at news conferences and television appearances. But the official line was contradicted by grittier, more desperate views from the shelters and the streets.
These conflicting views came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN's transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others.
The article goes on to list many specific examples, including conditions inside the Convention Center, uncollected corpses, hospital evacuation, violence and civil unrest, the pathetic federal response and the overall absense of security through what used to be New Orleans.