ity, is the agency charged with providing such assistance. Published reports showed that, according to FEMA guidelines, the governor called for a disaster declaration, which is intended to trigger immediate federal assistance; however, assistance does not appear to have been mobilized immediately upon the request but about 36 hours afterward.
Nagin publicly pleaded for rescue and relief resources as the water continued to rise, endangering persons who could not get to high enough ground to save themselves, and the extent of the disaster continued to grow. Whether through miscommunication, mismanagement, or some combination of the two, there was a disconnect between requests for aid and the quality of response, rescue, and relief efforts. For example, a Homeland Security official in Louisiana said on August 29 that everyone who wanted to evacuate had evacuated, and FEMA director Michael Brown urged officials in Mississippi and Alabama not to send resources such as workers or vehicles--even as Blanco was deploying 68 school buses into the city to effec
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