The short answer is: BOTH!
On Thurs Jan 5 2006 I received a letter from WA Senator Patty Murray regarding the federal response Hurricane Katrina. It struck me as somewhat politically motivated. Was it really or am I just being a hardass? Read it and decide for yourself. Either way, my reply follows.

First, her letter:
> Dear Mr. Clements:
>
> Thank you for contacting me about the federal response to
> Hurricane Katrina. It is good to hear from you.
>
> As you may be aware, the State of Washington took a proactive
> role in the Katrina relief effort. In addition to offering
> monetary support and relief supplies, Washington also opened
> its doors to over 2,000 evacuees, offering them shelter,
> food, and clothing. The generosity and hospitality
> Washington state residents displayed in the aftermath of the
> disaster has truly been inspiring.
>
> In contrast, the federal government’s response to the
> disaster was unacceptable. The Federal Emergency Management
> Agency (FEMA) was established specifically to deal with
> large-scale disasters such as Katrina; yet, its response
> lacked the cohesion, manpower, and equipment necessary to
> provide immediate relief to the hurricane victims. The
> residents of the Gulf Coast deserved better. Furthermore,
> the rest of America needs to know that the federal government
> will have a prompt and effective response plan in place
> should another national emergency of this magnitude arise.
>
> This disaster has shown that we need real leadership at all
> levels of the government, and that relief efforts demand a
> massive, coordinated response in order to be effective.
> Consequently, federal agencies such as FEMA need strong and
> experienced leaders who are capable of managing the resources
> and manpower in chaotic emergency situations. Michael Brown,
> FEMA’s director and head of the Katrina relief mission,
> lacked the necessary expertise to carry out these
> responsibilities. He has since resigned his position and
> been replaced by David Paulison, who formerly served as the
> U.S. Fire Administrator.
>
> While I was relieved by Mr. Brown’s resignation, the federal
> government must focus on learning the important lessons from
> its response to Hurricane Katrina to ensure that similar
> failures are not repeated. Unfortunately, President Bush
> decided to launch an internal – rather than objective and
> independent – investigation into the response and recovery
> effort. Therefore, the House Committee on Homeland Security
> and Senate Committee on Government Affairs and Homeland
> Security have opened their own investigations into the
> Administration’s response to the disaster. I look forward to
> reviewing the findings from each of these investigations and
> remain hopeful that, together, they will provide us with
> enough information to mitigate the effects of potentially
> disastrous events in the future.
>
> You may be interested to know that my colleagues and I are
> currently discussing new ways to improve the Department of
> Homeland Security and FEMA’s ability to respond to national
> emergencies. Once such proposal recommends that FEMA be
> reestablished as an independent agency in order to improve
> the efficiency and information-sharing with the executive
> office. Rest assured, I will continue to work in the Senate
> to address the institutional failures of FEMA.
>
> I would also like to encourage you to check out the emergency
> preparedness section of my website at
> http://murray.senate.gov/preparedness/. Here you will find
> important information that will help you prepare and protect
> yourself and your family in an emergency situation.
>
> Again, thank you for contacting me to share your concerns.
> Please keep in touch.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Patty Murray
> United States Senator

Next, my reply:

Senator Murray,

Thank you for providing more information on this. I agree that the federal response was unacceptable and hope the lessons learned, truly are learned.

But the local response was also unacceptable. The mayor and governor know their own people, cities and state far better than a distant federal bureaucracy ever can. Due to their detailed, local knowledge they are best able to plan for disasters and ensure the plans are implemented professionally. This is not independent from, but tied with federal disaster planning. They too failed in this responsibility yet the mass media sensationalized the problems as if they were the sole responsibility of the Bush administration.

Let's remember that the federal response to Katrina was not significantly different than it has been in past disasters. In August 1992 Floridians were asking, "Where the hell is FEMA?" In that disaster, it took about 5 days for FEMA support to arrive. For Katrina, it was about 3 days. Still too slow? Yes. But worse than it has been in the past? No.

Another lesson that I hope the people learn is to be more self sufficient and reduce as much as possible their dependency on government programs and bureaucracies to protect them in a disaster. The government can and should do everything it can but individual people should have their own disaster plans and preparations as much as is practical.

In short, we saw failures at ALL levels - from individual people to government, both local and all the way to the white house. But to put this into perspective, let us keep in mind that the government response was little different than past disasters, and within these failures were many cases of success, bravery and initiative as thousands of people were successfully evacuated keeping total deaths FAR below the initial estimates.

Regards,