New Orleans and Subsidiarity

Catholic Exchange has run a piece today by Bishop Rene Henry Gracida about local responsibility for what happened in Nawlins. Link. Excerpts:

It was the responsibility of the City of New Orleans government to provide all of the emergency response for the first 24 hours and to specify, request and coordinate the help expected from the State of Louisiana and the federal government. . .

It was the responsibility of the Governor of Louisiana to provide immediately the first help through the deployment of the National Guard of Louisiana, which should have been activated and on standby duty ready to move into the coast of Louisiana to cope with the damage to be expected from Hurricane Katrina. The Governor of Louisiana was strangely invisible during the week following the break in the levee. . .