Earlier this year, the Colorado Legislature expressed frustration about the state's poor preparedness for a terrorist attack. The Owens Administration belittled the report, claiming the state was ready. It was foolish to discount the Legislature's report then; it is deadly to ignore it now. When our leaders fail to act in our best interests, it's time to demand accountability.

For starters, we should all know the state's plans for evacuating citizens in a disaster. Along the Gulf Coast, those without cars, who were old or sick or disabled, were left behind to suffer the hurricane's destruction. What plans has Colorado made to move vulnerable people to safety? Such plans could include immediately requisitioning all public busses and drivers to pick people up at designated, easily accessible points.

Drivers could be trained in emergency evacuation procedures, particularly for those who can't take care of themselves. Medical personnel could be assigned to specific shelters so they'd know immediately where to go. But, our government must make the plan and inform everyone.

The greatest nation on earth betrayed its people. Not the citizens of this remarkable nation, who have, as usual, given so generously of their time, money, homes, and hearts to the devastated victims of Hurricane Katrina. No, it's our government, whom we count on to help us in a national tragedy, that failed us in just the sort of disaster it promised it was prepared to meet.

To the Bush Administration, it was more important to cut taxes than to fix the levees that protected New Orleans. It was more important to send the National Guard off to fight a far-off and unnecessary war than to provide for the poorest Americans in their time of severe need. It was more important to talk vacuously about a war on terror than to provide the real tools, equipment, and training our emergency responders required.

Now, it's time for us to assess what's next. This time, Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast with wind and water. What happens when the medium of destruction is chemical, biological, or nuclear? Katrina showed us how unprepared we are at all levels of government to rescue, much less protect, ourselves from a natural disaster. The horrors of a terrorist attack will be far greater. We must demand that our government does whatever it takes to be ready the next time.

Likewise, we must each take responsibility for knowing how to get to safety-and for evacuating when so ordered. Governments can take advantage of places people naturally gather-schools, churches, shopping centers-to communicate plans fully and repeatedly so citizens know how to protect themselves. We each must make sure we are personally informed and prepared.

It is beyond belief that along the Gulf Coast, knowing for days that Katrina was headed their way, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, charged with responding immediately to a disaster, had not stockpiled food, water and basic medicines in the logical shelters where traumatized victims would gather. We must designate those shelters now in Colorado and have the basic necessities for survival, including protection against biological, nuclear, or chemical hazards, in place before tragedy strikes.

In New Orleans, the police force was unprepared for the enormity and horror of their task. Facing monumental losses of their own, large numbers quit the force in their time of greatest need. Local police and fire forces must be fully trained and equipped to handle the worst of emergencies, when they may face huge losses of life, immense damage, and terrified victims. We train our military professionally and emotionally for their difficult mission. We owe no less to first responders across America.

We can no longer allow political hype to lull us into thinking we are safe. We must insist that our government be prepared with plans and resources sufficient to ensure our recovery from any disaster that strikes. When our government fails us, citizens must demand better. If not, Katrina will just be a warm up for something far worse.