A number of Bush apologists have stated that blame for the inadequate disaster response should be laid at the feet of state and local officials. The idea is that state and local resources are supposed to be used for the first few days, after which federal resources can be made available upon request. But this is not what the National Response Plan says.
The National Reponse Plan [NRP], completed in January 2005, is described as a "unified, all-discipline, and all-hazards approach to domestic incident management" seamlessly covering prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.
The NRP acknowledges that response to disasters should occur at the lowest level possible, state, tribal, and local. But it also distinguishes between smaller incidents and "Incidents of National Significance." Incidents of National Significance are handled differently from the more "routine" (if we can use that word) disasters.
A Department of Homeland Security brochure states that "For those events that rise to the level of an Incident of National Significance, DHS provides operational and/or resource coordination for Federal support to on-scene incident command structures. The NRP [National Response Plan] provides mechanisms for expedited and proactive Federal support to ensure critical life-saving assistance and incident containment capabilities are in place to respond quickly and efficiently to catastrophic incidents. These are high-impact, low-probability incidents, including natural disasters and terrorist attacks that result in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions."
The brochure also says that "The NRP provides the policies and processes for coordinating Federal support activities that address the short-term, direct effects of an incident. These activities include immediate actions to preserve life, property, and the environment; meet basic human needs; and maintain the social, economic, and political structure of the affected community." [emphasis mine]
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_Brochure.pdf
According to the National Response Plan, the plan can be activated under several conditions including at the request of a federal agency, when state and local resources have been overwhelmed and assistance is requested, when more than one federal agency in substantially involved in an incident, or when "the Secretary has been directed to assume incident management responsibilities by the president."
The plan specifically says that "If the president determines that an emergency exists where the primary responsibility for response rests with the Government of the United States . . . the president may unilaterally direct the provision of assistance under the act, and will, if practicable, consult with the governor of the state." Note that the president doesn't have to wait for a request, or ask permission. He only "consults" "if practicable."
In other words, we can't say that the president's hands were somehow tied, or that he had to wait around for a request. Had the president -- in the face of a cat 5 hurricane possibly wiping a large American city off the map -- wanted DHS to take over the response, he could have. If DHS didn't like the New Orleans evacuation plan or the way it was being executed, they could easily have gotten the authority to take over command of the response. DHS is supposed to be able to provide immediate, short-term assistance as well as long-term recovery.
You get see a copy of the National Response Plan here:
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_FullText.pdf
Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example of why you want to have a federal department such as DHS in the first place. A federal response from beginning to end would have been entirely appropriate and consistent with the National Response Plan. At the very beginning Bush could have said, "look, this is too big and too critical for the state and local officials; DHS is taking over." But he didn't. He spent two more days on vacation.
And that may have been a good thing. As inadequate as local response often was, at least it was something. Had DHS been put in charge, who knows what would have happened given how long it took for them to do anything.