Katrina response 'a national failure' says Congress

Unheeded warnings, poor planning and apathy in recognising the scope of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction led to the slow emergency response from the White House down to local officials, a damning US government investigation says.

The 600-page report by a Republican-dominated House of Representatives inquiry into one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history concluded that late state and local evacuation orders added to the problem of an untrained and inexperienced force of emergency responders.