"If you ask me if we as a nation are better prepared than we were 40 years ago, five years ago, the answer is yes.

"But if you ask me are we as prepared as we can or should be, the answer to that is, no, we're not," retired Department of Homeland Security inspector general Richard Skinner told a Senate hearing.

Lessons learned from disasters like Hurricane Andrew, which killed 26 people in 1992, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the September 11, 2001 attacks should have left the United States "much better prepared than we are today," said Skinner.

"The tragic events that are unfolding today in Japan are a stark reminder of how important catastrophic preparedness is. It can and will happen here -- it's just a matter of when," he told the hearing.

"Nevertheless, I remain concerned about FEMA's capability and resolve to sustain an effective catastrophic preparedness strategy and program," he said.

FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, came under fire for its ineffectual response to Hurricane Katrina, which claimed some 1,200 lives in the US Gulf states and caused an estimated $75 billion in damage.

The agency was revamped after Katrina, but Skinner, who authored a recent report on FEMA, said the agency was still mired in the same inefficiencies that were found by auditors 20 years ago, and was dragging its heels to implement changes.

Republican Senator Susan Collins said US Geological Survey data show there is a 94 percent probability of a powerful earthquake of magnitude seven or more hitting California in the next 30 years.

"It's also inevitable that there will be hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, and a terrorist attack using a weapon of mass destruction in a large city would strain our capability," she said, questioning whether United States can "handle a mega-disaster."

earlier related report
Obama defends US evacuation order in Japan
Washington (AFP) March 17, 2011 - US President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to stand by Japan as it recovers and rebuilds, but defended a decision to go beyond Tokyo's advice for evacuating Americans near damaged nuclear plants.

A senior US nuclear expert meanwhile warned that the effort to bring an emergency and feared meltdown under control at a nuclear plant damaged in an massive earthquake a week ago could take "weeks."

Obama offered heartfelt sympathy to Japan's people faced with triple challenges after a mammoth earthquake and tsunami badly damaged several nuclear power reactors, in an address from the White House Rose Garden.

He also assured Americans there was no reason to think harmful radiation from Japan could reach US shores and said he had ordered a "comprehensive review" of US domestic nuclear plants to learn the lessons from Japan.

"We will stand with the people of Japan as they contain this crisis, recover from this hardship, and rebuild their great nation," said Obama.

The president also explained why US officials had decided on Wednesday to advise American citizens within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to evacuate or seek shelter.

The US no-go zone was much wider than the 12-mile (20-kilometer) exclusion zone set up by Japanese authorities and raised questions over why the United States and its close ally were not on the same page.

"This decision was based upon a careful scientific evaluation and the guidelines that we would use to keep our citizens safe here in the United States, or anywhere in the world," Obama said.

"We do have a responsibility to take prudent and precautionary measures to educate those Americans who may be endangered by exposure to radiation if the situation deteriorates," he added.

The president, who explained the US action in a late-night telephone call to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, said conditions did not currently call for an evacuation beyond the 50-mile radius.

US officials declined to criticize the Japanese decision, but pointed out that different nations had unique regulatory approaches.

"The recommendation is ultimately a precautionary measure right now based on... some of the risks and challenges going forward in this situation," said Greg Jaczko, chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"We think it's a prudent measure to take."

Obama also repeated that despite public anxiety, especially on the US west coast, there was no reason to believe harmful radiation from Japan to threaten American territory.

"I want to be very clear, we do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States, whether it is the west coast, Hawaii, Alaska or US territories in the Pacific," Obama said.

Jaczko, in an earlier White House briefing, explained that US evaluations had found no real risk of radiation traveling across the Pacific and posing a threat to Americans.

"The basic physics and basic science tells us that there really can't be any risk or harm to anyone here in the United States or Hawaii or any of the other territories. So that's something that we feel very comfortable with."

Jaczko also said that the operation to draw heat from the damaged reactors could take some time in Japan and the crisis could be prolonged.

"This is something that will likely take some time to work through, possibly weeks, as eventually you remove the majority of the heat from the reactors and then the spent fuel pool," he said.

In his Rose Garden remarks, Obama appeared moved by the plight of a nation he first saw as a boy with his late mother, and to which he has made several trips as president.

"The Japanese people are not alone in this time of great trial and sorrow. Across the Pacific, they will find a hand of support extended from the United States as they get back on their feet," Obama said.

He reached for inspiration in citing the story of a four-month-old baby found alive by rescuers, days after being swept out of its parents arms by the tsunami sparked by the earthquake a week ago.

"No one can say for certain just how she survived the water and the wreckage around her. There is a mystery in the course of human events," he said.

US officials also said Thursday that a 39-strong US team had begun taking aerial radiation readings in Japan, on a fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter, as part of their efforts to help the Japanese effort to calm the crisis.

Preliminary readings had been taken after the United States issued its 50-mile radius recommendation but had showed the move was a prudent step, officials said.

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