While there is plenty of blame to go around for the botched handling of the Katrina aftermath, I think we should spend some time thinking about all the heros out there.
In particular, the everyday heros that IMMEDIATELY respond to disasters, both small and large, the United States Coast Guard.
Does it really surprise anyone that the first rescue pictures that we all saw were orange and white helecopters lifting people to safety one or 2 at a time?
These are the people that fly out into major storms, and will have a swimmer jump into the water to save people. This is what they do. They didn't need to "get permission", they see someone in need, and they do whatever is in their power to save that person. They went in right away, and they have been there ever since.
According to the latest reports, the USCG has rescued around 10,000 people in NOLA. This is not sending a bus to haul out 75 at a time (load'em up and move'em out), but incredibly skilled teams, that each individual saved has personal contact with.
And with all that going on, they are still the group that is charged with taking care of those all important waterways in that region, and they are working hard on that too!
While they may not have done everything perfectly, they at least acted immediately. I hope the other "emergency response" branches of government learn something from them.