Speaking from unspeakable experience ... the worse is yet to come

According to the BBC,

Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief co-ordinator has written to US ambassador to the UN John Bolton offering help.

"I understand people's frustration, but I also know from bitter experience that this, the fifth and the sixth and the seventh days are always among the worst, because it is before you reach, really, the largest amount of people," he told the BBC.

"Could more have been done? I would say every society in the world is not preparing adequately for catastrophic events. Disaster prevention is something that we are campaigning for all over the world, and I would say no society is fully prepared for all eventualities."

And on AlterNet, Reuter reports, "U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland, who oversaw the Asian tsunami relief effort, said Katrina could easily dwarf the devastation of other recent natural disasters in terms of economic costs. Egeland called Katrina one of 'the largest, most destructive natural disasters ever' and offered U.N assistance."