Criticism was prompted largely by televised images of visibly shaken and frustrated political leaders, and of residents who remained in New Orleans without water, food or shelter and the deaths of several citizens by thirst, exhaustion, and violence, days after the storm itself had passed.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was also criticized for failing to implement his flood plan and for ordering residents to a shelter of last resort without any provisions for food, water, security, or sanitary conditions.

Perhaps the most important criticism of Nagin is that he delayed his emergency evacuation order until less than a day before landfall, which led to hundreds of deaths of people who (by that time) could not find any way out of the city.

[citation needed] It has been stated in the evacuation order that, beginning at noon on August 28 and running for several hours, all city buses were redeployed to shuttle local residents to "refuges of last resort," designated in advance, including the Louisiana Superdome.

[9] Due to the slow response to the hurricane, New Orleans's top emergency management official called the effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly desperate city.

[13] Official requests for help through the proper chains of command were not forthcoming due to local and state delays in engaging FEMA for federal assistance, even after approached by such authorities.

[citation needed] Bush flew over the devastated area in Air Force One as he traveled from Texas back to Washington, D.C.,[21] and subsequently visited the Gulf Coast on Friday and was briefed on Hurricane Katrina.

During that hearing, Representative Stephen Buyer (R-IN) inquired as to why President Bush's declaration of a state of emergency of August 27 had not included the coastal parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines.

[31]Chertoff's remarks were heavily criticized, as the scenario of a levee breach had been previously envisioned by the Army Corps of Engineers and the storm had closely followed the National Weather Service predictions.

The goal of the National Response Plan is to provide a streamlined framework for swiftly delivering federal assistance when a disaster – caused by terrorists or Mother Nature – is too big for local officials to handle.

[39] Additionally, more than 50 civilian aircraft responding to separate requests for evacuations from hospitals and other agencies swarmed to the area a day after Katrina hit, but FEMA blocked their efforts.

"[42] The New York Times reported that 91,000 tons of ice ordered by FEMA at a cost of over $100 million and intended for hospitals and food storage for relief efforts never made it to the disaster area.

Federally contracted truck drivers instead received orders from FEMA to deliver the ice to government rented storage facilities around the country, as far north as Maine.

In testimony to a House panel, FEMA director Michael D. Brown stated that "I don't think that's a federal government responsibility to provide ice to keep my hamburger meat in my freezer or refrigerator fresh.

"[47] Once officials became aware of the conditions at the Convention Center a small number of basic food supplies were diverted there by helicopter, but there were no large-scale deliveries until a truck convoy arrived at midday September 2; the damage to infrastructure by the still present floodwaters and mob attacks delayed relief workers.

"[51] On September 9, Chertoff recalled Brown to Washington and removed him from the immediate supervision of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, and replaced him with Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen, chief of staff of the United States Coast Guard.

On September 9, Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, who oversaw the federal relief effort in New Orleans, and Terry Ebbert, Louisiana's homeland security director, said that reporters would have, "zero access," to body recovery operations, a statement which was actually misinterpreted.

The federal government has been highly criticized for the hiring of Kenyon for several reasons, including the availability of volunteer morticians from in and around New Orleans, the questionable usage of federal funding, the ineffectiveness of the organization in carrying out is duties leaving bodies to be found up to a year after Katrina made landfall, an extensively checkered past that the Bush Administration was aware of and accused of covering-up, and the length of time it took to identify victims once their bodies were recovered.

[citation needed] Testifying before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Chertoff said that FEMA was, "overwhelmed," by the scope of the disaster, and acknowledged, "many lapses," in his agency's response to Katrina.

[68] New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had offered assistance to Blanco two days before the storm hit but could not send his troops until approval came from the National Guard Bureau.

[citation needed] Notably, federal troops are generally prohibited from directly enforcing state laws (e.g., controlling looting or riots) by the Posse Comitatus Act, with some exceptions.

One example of this is that the City of New Orleans attempted to manage the disaster from a hotel ballroom with inadequate backup communications plans instead of a properly staffed Emergency Operations Center.

[81] William J. Jefferson (D-Louisiana) a Representative for Louisiana from the New Orleans area, was criticized when he had misused National Guard resources to check on his personal belongings and property on September 2, during the height of the rescue efforts.

He used his political position to bypass military barricades and delay two heavy trucks, a helicopter, and several National Guard troops for over an hour to stop at his home and retrieve, "a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator".

Mayor Nagin was criticized for allegedly failing to execute the New Orleans disaster plan, which called for the use of the city's school buses in evacuating residents unable to leave on their own.

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, defended the right of affected civilians to retain firearms, saying that, "What we've seen in Louisiana - the breakdown of law and order in the aftermath of disaster - is exactly the kind of situation where the Second Amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves."

[citation needed] British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott linked the global warming issue to Katrina, criticizing the United States' lack of support for the Kyoto Protocol, "The horrific flood of New Orleans brings home to us the concern of leaders of countries like the Maldives, whose nations are at risk of disappearing completely.

[citation needed] The Executive Summary states (among other things) the following:[3] African-American leaders and others have expressed outrage at what they see as the apparent neglect of the poor and/or black residents of the affected region.

[citation needed] Speaking at a press conference from a relief center in Lafayette, First Lady Laura Bush explained that the poor are always the main victims of natural disasters.

[105] In a survey conducted of 680 evacuees taken to various shelters in the Houston area, a vast number of respondents, a full 70%, faulted President George W. Bush and the Federal Government for their handling of the problem, while 58% and 53% blamed Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin, respectively.