FEMA had little respect as an agency until Clinton revamped it in the 90's and turned it into one of the most highly respected government agencies under the management of James Watt.  This is probably the reason for its good performance in the last 10 years.

Under the current administration, however, things have changed for the worse.  FEMA's incompetence has been on display prior to Katrina, but the previous few disasters, notably in Florida where folks are still living in tents, were not as nationally noticed.

Certainly, some things were done wrong on a local level during Katrina.  However, the Federal government was responsible for handling the disaster before the hurricane even reached land.  Cat 3 automatically means the Feds are responsible in the same way a 7.0 earthquake triggers this.  Also, the papers were all signed beforehand as a formality.

Not only did the Federal government completely bungle things, but there is some evidence to suggest that some of this was intentional, to "prove" their philosophy that "big" government shouldn't be depended upon.  

The responsibility for the magnitude of the tragedy, for the lack of rescue and supplies afterwards, lies squarely with FEMA and I, for one, will not be forgiving them for it.  Nor should any of us let them get away with the lies and obfuscation being propagated by the likes of Newsmax.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes