I was listening to NPR and they did a small story on how Ham radio ops helped out.
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Interesting piece.  I don't know the details of how well the comm systems were working--seems odd that there was a LD cell phone call to Tulsa from somewhere in NOLA.

I don't over-play the role ham radio can have in disaster relief efforts, but I don't discount it either.  I'm a member of my local ARES and RACES group, and we have fairly regular nets and once or twice yearly drills to practice doing what we would do--which is to help provide a backup communications system for government, emergency, and relief workers.  When volunteering we work under the general control of our county and city emergency management department--it is not just a bunch of LEO-wannabes running around with radios.

The ideal scenario is that we deploy in support of the local government, emergency and relief workers, and then the established communications systems never fail and we aren't needed at all.  But if they do, or if they need to split away some less-vital comm traffic to make more room for rescue operation communications, we're there to take up the slack.

We have a couple of LEO wannabes in the area , and we have to make plans to keep them out of our way and especially out of the way of the real LEO and other emergency workers.  They can do a fine job of brewing coffee at the Red Cross station...they give ham radio a bad name and they can easily become serious liabilities if left to their own devices.

Jim

Ham operators are the best friend that the locals can have in a diasater. They practice emergency coms, when it's needed they are there. after 9/11 hams had an emergency net up and were able to patch LEO/Emergency coms after the city towers fell with the buildings. I don't have the articles archived anymore, but I think Grove radio may still have them. I have worked with Hams during diasters and I owe my ass to them

I attend field days and drills every year, some of the best fun you can have with a bunch of friends.  Here we did a drill were we set up at the CSEPP decom. command station and used all their expensive fancy gear, it was great.