The mayor and governor were unprepared, not competent to handle this crisis. If the Pres. hadn't called the governor to tell her to issue a mandatory evacuation, she wouldn't, and it's unimaginable what would have happened.
The chaos and increase in sufferring was exaccerbated by no one taking charge. A total lack of leadership at the state and local levels.
Where I see the Feds and White House being blamed, is for not recognizing soon enough that New Orleans had no leadership. I understand the Feds not wanting to usurp the power or authority of local gov't. But they needed to assign someone to go to Louisiana and hold that mayor's hand and guide him thru what he needed to do and say. On- the-job leadership training. Someone needed to get that mayor out there on a bullhorn calming, encouraging, directing and inspiring his citizens.
Once the White House realized that the Mayor was not only not helping the situation but adding to the problems with his hysteria, they finally took complete control.
In the future, the Feds need to assess quickly who they're dealing with, and whether that city or state official is capable of responding to the crisis or not. Getting someone into the locale to accompany & advise the local official seems crucial to establishing the best possible outcome after a disaster.
I agree, but this certainly isn't the first time an incompetent local official has been allowed to hold off the Feds. Remember the dread Chief Moose? A number of people died because he was allowed to diddle along being incompetent (and biased, since he knew perfectly well from the police reports that it was not a white suspect they were looking for). Everything should have been taken out of his hands - but it wasn't.
That said, I don't know what kind of laws exist that permit Federal intervention in cases of incompetence. In the case of Blanco and Nagin, I'd say it was even close to dereliction of duty. But can the Feds really intervene, without having to do something maybe a tad excessive, such as declaring war on the state of LA?