Poor planning and communication slowed the U.S. disaster agency's response to Hurricane Katrina, a top official said Monday, acknowledging that other federal departments' offers to help rescue flood victims were unheard or ignored. "Communications and coordination was lacking, pre-planning was lacking," William Lokey, chief of response operations at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "We were not prepared for this." Lokey told senators he was unaware that the Interior Department offered to send boats, airplanes, trucks, and personnel to rescue Katrina's victims immediately after the August 29 hurricane hit the U.S. Gulf coast, causing widespread devastation and flooding the city of New Orleans. The testimony came in the latest hearing of the Senate inquiry into the federal government's slow response to Katrina. The panel is expected to issue its findings in mid-March. A separate House of Representatives panel is concluding its own investigation, with a report due in mid-February.
