Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff took too long to recognize that a catastrophe was unfolding in the hours after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, government investigators said Wednesday. In a preliminary report on government failures leading up to and in the aftermath of the storm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) also said that Chertoff or another senior official “directly responsible and accountable to the president” should have been named to lead and coordinate Washington’s response. Full Story