FEMA and the Federal Family

Perhaps just a coincidence, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency picked the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall -- perhaps the low point in FEMA's controversial history -- to publish on Monday an impressive time line of actions by the entire "federal family" in response to Hurricane Irene.

A bonanza for future historians, it begins on Aug. 19, when FEMA began monitoring the building storm. Over 10 days it ropes in actions by agencies ranging from Homeland Security to the Consumer Product Safety Commission to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Energy Department. It ends with President Obama signing a disaster declaration for Vermont.

That's one way to put out the message that times have changed since the name FEMA was in many a curse.