It takes some order of gall for Republicans to step up on their soapboxes of hypocrisy and duplicity to comment on their opposition's response to a natural disaster... in view of their own responses to major natural disasters which have been inept and incompetent to the extent that "they couldn't have done it worse even if they had tried". In 1992, under the watch of President George H.W. Bush, Hurricane Andrew leveled an area south of Miami. The storm was forecast by the National Hurricane Center with near pinpoint accuracy for at least 48 hours prior to landfall. After the storm exited Florida leaving a massive swath of complete destruction, FEMA was nowhere to be found. Desperate people with only the clothes on their backs were appealing for help on TV, and help never arrived until 3 days afterwards. This is when FEMA initially got their 'bad reputation', The people affected in the area to get torn up by Andrew's 165mph winds were what Ann Romney arrogantly calls 'the little people'. People who, in her snotty filtered opinion, count for little, presumably because they don't have the necessary financial wherewithal to warrant communicating with.
13 years later came one of America's 3 worst "days of infamy", courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security, headed by arch neocon Michael Chertoff. The day in question was August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina wrecked much of the Gulf Coast, and large portions of major US city were destroyed. Once again, the storm's track was accurately forecast by the NWS days in advance, yet after Katrina moved inland and dissipated, what happened to people in the MS and LA Gulf Coast, especially New Orleans? No answer is needed - we all know what happened, as regards the disgusting, criminally inept and psychopathic response from the Bush Administration and it's élitist officials - it was as if "those who got were predominantly working class poor, and black people... so, they don't count - let them suffer - they are not worthy of help"... as typified by the pigheadedly arrogant, outlandish commentary by Barbara Bush, the former First Lady who said that the evacuees were "better off at the Astrodome because they were underprivileged".
Just a couple of years later came another massive disaster - the 2007 San Diego firestorms in which 1 million were evacuated and 1500 homes were destroyed... but in this case the response by FEMA and Bush Administration officials was exemplary - and in addition, the evacuees received not only prompt relief in the form of food, drink, first aid, camp beds blankets, and the like, but were also treated to rock concerts, movies, massage sessions, yoga workshops, and displaced children received toys by the truckload. Very nice - exactly as it should be... except the demographic (white, well off, largely conservative middle class stronghold) in this case was undoubtedly deemed more acceptable to the powers that be for assistance than those in New Orleans - who were treated as criminals at best - even shot at and killed in some cases by thugs working for Blackwater Inc. (corporate terrorist gang) - presumably because of their "less preferred race, color and financial status".