Financial controls in a crisis

"Americans have been concerned, and understandably so, about the government's response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. At the federal, state and local levels, a few government entities came through with flying colors, but others - notably the Federal Emergency Management Agency - fell short of expectations. Although many factors contributed to this less-than-adequate overall performance, the lack of strong internal control, broadly defined, played a key role in many of the financial accountability problems identified so far. "