In accordance to the NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN passed by Congress on December 2004, subsequent to a declaration of a "State of Emergency" by the Governors of the Gulf States (particularly from Governor Kathleen Blanco,
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=973on August 26, 2005], It's the OFFICIAL duty of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, to
"prepare for, respond to and recovery from", all emergency and disaster efforts in LA, including New Orleans.
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NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN (HSPD5)- Dec, 2004
Section III. Roles and Responsibilities, Federal Government, Page 9
Secretary of Homeland Security
Pursuant to HSPD-5, the Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for coordinating Federal operations within the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. HSPD-5 further designates the Secretary institutions abroad, where such acts are within the of Homeland Security as the "principal Federal official" for domestic incident management.
In this role, the Secretary is also responsible for coordinating Federal resources utilized in response to or recovery from terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other emergencies if and when any of the following four conditions applies:
1.) a Federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested DHS assistance;
2.) the resources of State and local authorities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance has been requested;
3.) more than one Federal department or agency has become substantially involved in responding to the incident; or
4.) the Secretary has been directed to assume incident management responsibilities by the President.
Read NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN here,
http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/policy/national/NRP_FullText.pdf
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