NO Gov./Mayor learned nothing from Ivan

According to a Sept 19, 2004 report by the AP press the LA Governor and NO Mayor repeated a lot of the mistakes they made in 2004 w/ hurricane Ivan again w/ hurrican Katrina (not to mention George in 1998);

www.newsmax.com...

Wrote the AP: "Those who had the money to flee Hurricane Ivan ran into hours-long traffic jams. Those too poor to leave the city had to find their own shelter - a policy that was eventually reversed, but only a few hours before the deadly storm struck land."

Eventually, tens of thousands of New Orleanans were directed to the Superdome - where no food, water or living facilities were provided for the massive number of refugees expected to remain there for at least several days. Fortunately few arrived.

Noted the AP then: "New Orleans dodged the knockout punch many feared from the hurricane, but the storm exposed what some say are significant flaws in the Big Easy's civil disaster plans."

Noted the AP story: "When another dangerous hurricane, Georges, appeared headed for the city in 1998, the Superdome was opened as a shelter and an estimated 14,000 people poured in." But just as happened after Katrina, the AP reported there were problems, including theft and vandalism.

With Ivan approaching, far fewer took refuge from the storm - an estimated 1,100 - at the Superdome, and there was far greater security: 300 National Guardsmen.

Sound familiar? A more complete version of the report can be found here.

My question is why didn't they learn anything from Ivan or George? Why have 300 guardsmen for security in 2004 and 0 in 2005? I also read that there were all kinds of school buses that set unused and ended up underwater. Why didn't they use what they had. Did they think because they dodged a bullet w/ Ivan, they could just assume Katrina wouldn't destroy the city? How long till the next major hurricane? Did they learn anything this time?