I think, in general, the whole Katrina business is due to the American people being awfully unprepared for hurricanes, even as they live in an area where hurricanes should be the norm. With that said, part of the general complacency toward such issues in the minds of both governmental officials and the general public probably has to do with the relatively low number of strong tropical cyclones experienced in this country.
Take my homeland, for example. Taiwan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and thus residents there are generally much better prepared for Earthquakes than the typical American (especially those who grew up in the mid-west or on the east coast, not knowing earthquakes, and then moving to southern California). Similarly, Taiwan is also situated smack on the path most Typhoons would take. Having three or four (or more) typhoons in one year is no big deal for the small island country of size less than a third of Louisiana. We were trained by necessity to learn the proper responses to typhoon situations (stocking up food and water, especially vegetables, blocking up windows; it also helps that houses in Taiwan are typically more wind resistant [brick and mortar or concrete and metal, instead of wood]).
The last big disaster in Taiwan was the 9-21 earthquake half-decade ago. That was something beyond what most people have experienced/expected in a life time, and so the island, being unprepared, suffered similarly to the way New Orleans did in Katrina. If, however, people have prepared for the likes of Katrina in the past, they should be able to deal with a category 4 storm easily (it weakened to Cat 4 by landfall).
Compare the statistics of Hurricane Katrina to Typhoon Longwang (龍王) (Some sort of divine irony I am sure: by pure chance [the same way NOAA has a list of Hurricane names compiled to be applied in order] this current typhoon is named Dragon King, who holds powers similar to Poseidon in Chinese mythology [he is the god of the seas and the governor of rain, winds, and clouds].) Typhoon Longwang is slightly weaker: it just missed the cut for a Cat 5 with highest winds at 240 km/h. It is still classified as a Super Typhoon (a grade between Cat 4 and Cat 5). At landfall, however, both Longwang and Katrina were Category 4 cyclones: Katrina has sustained winds at 235 kph, and Longwang 215 kph (partly due to the fact that the sea bed to the east of Taiwan drops sharply in depth, storms tend not to weaken much prior to landfall).
Currently, 4 hours since landfall, the damages in Taiwan are:
In a way, America is too comfortable a place to live. It makes people grow lazy and complacent, and disconnected with natural catastrophes. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that we dealt with this hurricane worse than most second or third world countries.
Updated Oct 02, 10:51am: Now the Typhoon has left the Taiwan area, and I still don't see any news of severe human losses. Most of the Taiwanese media is focusing on how while Longwang broke a few records for wind strength in various localities, it is still nowhere near the strongest typhoon experienced in recent times.
Apparently in the year 2000, Taiwan suffered through a cyclone of strength even greater than Katrina: Typhoon Bilis registered 282 kph wind speed on land, the strongest recorded typhoon in the past 80 years. In fact, in the past 50 years alone, there were 4 typhoons stronger than Longwang, and all four of those also stronger than Katrina. I think this confirms me theory that the American people has been too sheltered from disasters.