Photo by George Armstrong, FEMA

Federal, state and local agencies are assessing the damages caused by a rare winter swarm of tornadoes that swept southern states Tuesday night. [See NY Times interactive map.] Hardest hit were the states of Arkansas to Tennessee.  The death toll currently stands at 57. 

When the new disaster struck, many FEMA employees were already busy helping communities around the nation recover from earlier flooding (photo above). FEMA faces a difficult challenge as it tries to restore public trust following a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., echoed the concerns of numerous government officials in the affected states when he recalled the sluggishness with which the Federal Emergency Management Agency responded to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He told FEMA Director David Paulison on Wednesday that he would “not tolerate a slow reaction time.” (MSNBC)

For those willing to wade through jargon, a FEMA status report describes the deployment of federal resources.  (Hint: Definitions of the terms can be found in the National Response Plan.)