This is not a partisan issue. This is not a time for politics. But if you ask why, you deserve a straight answer. So here it is.

We have an agency of the US government to manage, and prevent, disasters like this one. It's called FEMA. And FEMA, apparently staffed by skilled, competent people under Carter, Reagan, Bush the First, and Clinton, knew this was going to happen:

http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/houston.htm

So why weren't they prepared? Because BushCo gouged FEMA to pay for the Iraq bloodlust:

http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2004-09-22/cover.html

And now "the leader of the free world" is once again lying about his mistakes to protect his dry-drunk ass.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/1/123536/7907

I'll leave you with this quote from that December 2004 article:

In case Congress hasn't gotten the message, former FEMA director James Lee Witt recently restated it in strong terms. "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded," he testified at a March 24, 2004, hearing on Capitol Hill. "I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency manager told me, 'It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management.'"

I really don't intend this to sound like a trolling attempt, but looking at the situation from Austria I find the developments in and around New Orleans the least surprising.

1) The stereotype of greedy and gun-loving US-americans is making a lot of people react with "yeah - americans." here. Even though it's hard to tell how many of the people loot in first place (and it's likely a minority), noone here is shocked by the images of policemen running off with TV sets or even people shooting at helicopters.

2) The stereotype of an idiot president. You have a disaster on your hands and he's using it for his bi-weekly "the Nation will rise stronger from this" speech. Seriously, he should be in his office overseeing the operations instead. And as for the touted homeland security - looks like there is none.

3) The looting scenes show people looting electronics and breaking into homes, so it's not just about food. And they are armed. This means that either the people are more desparate for wealth or the moral standards that would stop one from engaging in criminal activities simply aren't there. It's a "them or me" mentality at its best and it doesn't help the stereotypes here, either.

Like I said, these are not attempts at trolling, but are intended to spark a discussion. If you look at what is happening in NO, imagine what problems the goverment might face if a catastrophe of a similiar scale would happen in a bigger city?

In conclusion I would like to add that a similiar event in Europe would probably cause the same chaos and the goverments might need some time to react accordingly. But the time-span for the reaction would likely be shorter and you wouldn't have to deal with as many armed looters or people shooting at helicopters. And we would be spared an idiot speach or two from our "leaders".

noone here is shocked by the images of policemen running off with TV sets or even people shooting at helicopters.

I'm not sure where you saw police officers stealing TV sets but I doubt it was in New Orleans. The police there has been a wee bit too busy trying to stay alive. Do you really believe they'd have the time and energy to steal TV sets?