Unsafe, Unprepared.

This article criticizes the unpreparedness of the U.S. federal government to cope with natural disasters despite the large amount spent on emergency preparedness programs. On paper, federal, state and local planners prescribe an all-hazards approach to preparing for disasters. In reality, though, federal agencies and their state and local counterparts organize their plans into disaster-specific programs of detection, prevention and response, while specific agencies remain focused on particular kinds of disasters.