WRONG.

Diaster is ALL that FEMA does --- NO local/state Gov will perform well (or as well) as FEMA is equipped to. YES LA has some level of disaster preparedness just as any other state. But when it reaches levels that it did, FEMA should have been more ready than any other entity on the planet - PERIOD. FEMA failed.

As far as natural disasters go - I was living in OKC when the F5 rolled through --- the Feds took over phone lines, hard lines as well as mobiles. You can't declare a fuckin emergency when there is no way to communicate --- FEMA does not have to wait to act - they def didn't do it in OKC.