FEMA was reorganized and strengthened after that, and it has avoided the onslaught of negative feedback Katrina generated.
The agency hasn't been tested the same way it was after the hurricane, however.
Governor Steve Beshear raised Kentucky's death toll to 24 today, meaning the storm has been blamed in at least 55 deaths nationwide.
And while it also knocked out power to more than a million customers from the Southern Plains to the East Coast, it's still considered a medium-sized disaster, the kind FEMA has traditionally been successful handling.
The Kentucky disaster will be closely watched, said Richard Sylves, professor of political science at the University of Delaware, particularly because Obama hasn't yet named the top FEMA officials, many of whom must go through Senate confirmation.
"If it's perceived not to be handled very well, or if there's a sense that there's insensitivity at the federal level to the plight of people suffering, I imagine the people President Obama has appointed to senior positions in FEMA will be grilled in their confirmation hearings," said Sylves, who has written four books on federal disaster policy.
Beshear asked Obama for a disaster declaration to free up federal assistance Thursday, two days after the storm hit, and Obama issued it hours later.
Trucks loaded with supplies began arriving at a staging area at Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday morning, said Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On Saturday, Beshear ordered all of the state's Army National Guardsmen into action to distribute supplies, many of which came from FEMA.
Beshear has consistently praised Obama for the attention he's devoted to what Beshear calls the biggest natural disaster to hit his state.
"We have had tremendous and quick response from President Obama and his administration," Beshear said.
"I don't think any of our folks that have dealt with disasters before ever recall as quick a response as we got last Wednesday."
Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, based in Lexington, Ky., said that from what she's heard, FEMA's response has been very good so far.
Her group represents emergency management directors from all 50 states.
"The governor's declaration request for an emergency was turned around very, very quickly by FEMA and the White House," said Sheets, who just had her power restored today after four days without it.
"And President Obama has spoken with the governor of Kentucky on several occasions throughout the event."
Sheets said she hadn't heard any complaints so far about the federal response.
"FEMA and the Kentucky National Guard are doing everything they can to get things back up and running," Senator Jim Bunning said.
By Monday, FEMA officials were checking in on supply distribution points in some rural areas.
FEMA official Don Daniel stopped by to ask emergency management officials in Grayson County, who had criticized FEMA's absence late last week, what they needed.
More generators, they told him, to keep essential services such as hospitals and water supplies running.
"If they need more, they'll get them," Daniel said.
"That need has to be met."
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