Federal response more sure-footed in Calif. than it was after Katrina

A state with a history of coping with disaster. Emergency workers with the right equipment. Officials determined not to bungle another government response. Residents willing to evacuate.

Those factors have contributed to what California officials, members of Congress and emergency-response experts say has been a solid response to the fires that have forced more than half a million people to abandon their homes.

The contrast with the government response to Hurricane Katrina couldn't be starker.

At the federal level, "this is a far different and far better FEMA than we saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

By Wednesday, FEMA Chief David Paulison and his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, had toured the disaster zone. Today, President Bush heads west as part of an effort to show that the federal government and its leaders won't drop the ball.

"The federal government has been bitten, and they don't want to be bitten again, so they're being very proactive," says former FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, who left the agency before Katrina hit in 2005.

Allbaugh and other experts said credit for the good response goes ... // 59% Remaining