I've been doing some searching on Google News to see what people were saying before Hurricane Katrina hit.
As the Category 4 the storm surged ashore just east of New Orleans on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, its director, Michael Brown, said.
Speaking from Baton Rouge, just upriver from New Orleans, Brown told NBC's "Today" show that his agency had "planned for this kind of disaster for many years because we've always known about New Orleans' situation."
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=200704&pub=1&div=News
After the first 72 hours FEMA's focus will be longer term. There exists the possibility of a huge housing shortage, massive debris removal and sustaining survivors. "This is a Category 5 hurricane hitting a major population center. It's our worst case scenario. We've exercised for this. We've planned for it. We're as ready as we can possibly be."
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=68455
Meanwhile in today's radio adress Bush said over the "next" 72 hours more help will be getting out to the people who need it. Quoth Miles on CNN.
Working from his Texas ranch, [On Sunday] Bush participated via videoconference in a large meeting of federal, state and local disaster management officials preparing for the storm's onslaught. Separately, he spoke by phone with the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-28-katrina-washington_x.htm
So supplies were on the ground and ready. And FEMA has been planning for this exact scenario for years.