Jack Harrald of the Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University puts it this way.

NPR: FEMA's Expanded Responsibilities Questioned

Mr. JACK HARRALD (Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management, George Washington University): You know, if the levees had been blown by terrorists or by a hurricane and the city of New Orleans flooded without evacuating people, the results are pretty much the same.

NPR: FEMA's Expanded Responsibilities Questioned

Prior to joining EMD, Wendy spent a decade acquiring hands-on global and national disaster preparedness and response private sector operational experience managing physical security, national crisis management and business continuity projects and teams at Microsoft and the former Washington Mutual Bank.

WHITEHOUSE: Wendy freitag | The White House

Since then, China has made major improvements in law enforcement, crisis management, crowd control, disaster prevention and disaster relief.

CNN: Opinion: The end of revolution