BBC NEWS | Americas | White House admits Katrina flaws

BBC NEWS | Americas | White House admits Katrina flaws: "Inexperience and a lack of planning, discipline and leadership undermined the US response to Hurricane Katrina, a White House report has concluded.

Federal disaster response plans had 'significant flaws', it says.

Among 125 recommendations in the report is a call for more control to be handed to the Pentagon in similar disasters.

The report is the latest in a string of critical judgements on the response to the hurricane which hit last August, killing about 1,300 people.


No matter how prepared we think we are, we must work every day to improve
Frances Townsend
White House adviser

Gulf Coast road trip: Part 3

Compiled by White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend, the report highlights 11 key areas in need of improvement in case of future disasters.

Most of the recommendations focus on the need for communication between government departments, federal agencies and relief organisations.

Among the suggestions, the report says:

* A Pentagon contact should be embedded within emergency teams handling potential disasters, but the department should lead the disaster effort only in 'extraordinary circumstances'

* The federal government should not be the first authority to respond to a disaster, but should help state and local authorities

* The departments of homeland security and defence should jointly plan the military's support in disasters

* There should be closer ties between the National Guard and homeland security forces."