Shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco asked former FEMA Director James Lee Witt to advise the state on overall response and recovery efforts. He was hired to offer organizational advice to the governor's cabinet on the roles and responsibilities of state agencies and to assist with coordination between the state and federal governments.

“In a broader sense,” says Witt, “I was asked to help facilitate overall strengthening of the emergency management systems that were already in place.”

What were your priorities when you arrived in Louisiana? How much authority did you have?

In any emergency, the first priority is always to help the people who are suffering most from the disaster. In New Orleans, the suffering was on a massive scale, and helping to organize the response would mean getting help to the people who needed it faster. The biggest priority was to help organize a chain of command among workers as they arrived on the scene. The governor gave me the authority to help implement an incident command system.

What was the most frustrating aspect of dealing with Katrina's impact on Louisiana? Could it have been prevented?

Hurricane Katrina posed unusual challenges in Louisiana in that it was the worst catastrophic disaster that this nation has ever faced.… Due to the flooding, the most frustrating aspect was quickly getting supplies, medical help and volunteers into the city and to the people who needed them so desperately.

Natural disasters are impossible to prevent, but Hurricane Katrina does remind us of the importance of disaster mitigation. This is something that all-hazard preparedness emphasizes, and it is something that I think has suffered with the shift in focus to terrorism preparedness.

Two years ago, you were hired by the state of Illinois to do the assessment and make recommendations following the fatal fire in the Cook County administration building. Do you see your role as one of post-disaster or more preparedness and prevention?

We were hired by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to conduct an independent review to evaluate factors that contributed to the loss of life. The review led to a series of recommendations and an action plan for strengthening high-rise building fire safety throughout the state. During and after the crisis, [James Lee Witt and Associates] advised the state and county on ways to best communicate details of the events and the progress on the investigation to local and state officials, residents, media, and victims' families.…

Emergency management is comprised of preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery, and we deal with all of those aspects in our clientele. Although we are called on to assist with post-disaster response and recovery, we also have also undertaken a range of other preparedness projects ranging from local public outreach and awareness initiatives to public-private partnership development.

As a former director of FEMA, what is your opinion of what the agency can do to meet future disasters?

… I and many others in the emergency management community here and across the country are deeply concerned about the direction FEMA and the all-hazard mission are headed. I firmly believe that in order to efficiently respond to future disasters, FEMA should be re-established as an independent agency, reporting directly to the president, but allowing for the secretary of Homeland Security to task FEMA to coordinate the federal response and perform its historical duty of consequence management following a terrorist or any other kind of disastrous event.

We worked hard to establish a partnership between local first responders and emergency managers, state emergency managers and FEMA regional offices and headquarters. It was through these partnerships that we were able to effectively respond.

I think that with the right leadership, the right resources, and if FEMA is re-established as an independent cabinet-level agency, the system can and will work.

Based on your experience the past couple years and headline disasters, what advice do you have for our readers?

I have a deep level of respect for the first responders in our country. The advice I would give to your readers, as well as all of the respected leaders in our communities, is to set a good example for emergency preparedness and prevention. Reach out to your friends and neighbors and teach them about the importance of emergency preparedness. This includes not only fire prevention, but all disasters both natural and manmade. Together we can be more informed and prepared for the next disaster.