Brian Gongol
Did the White House say the evacuation of Houston went well? Not exactly: More like, "I think everybody will look at things that worked well there, and things that can work better in the future". Except for starting the evacuation early, not a lot about the evacuation went very well. The city's hoping to control the chaos of a re-population by telling people when to come back.
Over-regulation appears to shoulder some of the blame for the awful communications mess in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes, though, over-regulation can be funny (when it doesn't happen to you): Like when the government unintentionally tries to put your necktie industry out of business. It's definitely not funny when you're living in Cuba and the government promises that "solidarity" will help you survive a hurricane.
A couple of listener suggestions for improving communications in emergencies: Bolster our ham (amateur) radio network, and equip people with portable battery-operated CB radios.