text: who would you blame more for failure after hurricane katrina ? federal govt. for late response or local for lake of preperation. everybody is to be blame for but who is more responsible.  10 points will be given to the best answer. i hold the local governments more responsible not just for their lack of preperation but because the federal help couldn't be deployed except at the request of the local authorities, and they did not request help until well later than they should have.