NASA Tech Helps FEMA With Katrina Response--Maybe

NASA once again shows its usefulness by demonstrating a monstrous ability to detail effects of Katrina (and now Rita) using a cadre of equipment including several satellites and an airborne laser; A veritable fleet of aircraft have been in the air taking 'before and after' shots of the Katrina and Rita affected areas. They are able to peer through vegetation and ground clutter to mark submerged coastline and inundated property.
This information is then organized, reviewed and sent, along with a situation assessment, directly to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security where it seems to have been immediately burned into cinders and flushed down the toilet.

It seems to me, with this kind of intelligence on exactly what was going as it was happening, the federal government has no excuse for not getting involved sooner. They had to know the extent of the damage and that local first responders would have been needing saving themselves.
No excuses this time. NASA has the pictures to prove it....