GovernmentExecutive.com

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Paulison says his agency has learned its lesson from Hurricane Katrina, and that when it comes to responding to wildfires in southern California, "this is a new FEMA." So far, so good, but CNN points out that this isn't exactly a comparable situation. An entire region isn't under water, and the local transportation network is still operating.

Still, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff maintains the department is putting lessons from Katrina into place in the wildfire response. For example, he said, "we have worked together and planned together with the Defense Department and with state authorities well in advance of the crisis. That's been a big help here."

With all due respect, FEMA did that kind of planning routinely in the years before it was shifted into DHS, and racked up an impressive track record in the 1990s of effectively responding not only to fires and hurricanes, but other types of disasters. So to the extent that it had to learn basic lessons like planning ahead after Katrina, that's a sad commentary on how far the agency had fallen.