Back in February we posted about the rather unfortunate predictions for the 2006 hurricane season, and now, two months later, FEMA is promising that it's learned a hard lesson and will be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season.

Today the Insurance Journal reports that R. David Paulison, the acting director for FEMA, spoke candidly before federal, state and emergency officials at the 28th National Hurricane Conference, which is currently taking place in Orlando, Fla.

According to IJ, Paulison promised that FEMA was prepared for this year's active hurricane season saying,

FEMA is preparing with a renewed sense of commitment, improvement and urgency, building on lessons learned from last year's hurricane season, years of emergency management experience and coordination with federal, state and local partners to be ready.

Paulison went on to say that the upcoming hurricane season presented the agency with a "tremendous opportunity to reaffirm the core principles of the emergency management community."

The pressure's on FEMA, that's for sure. It was pretty disheartening to see FEMA in Le Monde's headlines last year; it made it all the more clear that the global community was pointing and staring at the utter catastrophe in the States.

On the other hand, I agree with Paulison's emphasis on the importance of teamwork among local, state and federal officials. Local and state officials could stand to beef up their disaster response a bit more, and residents need to invest in protecting their property, as well as take heed of warnings and evacuations when they're given.

I think it's everyone's hope that we don't get a repeat of Katrina and Rita in '06, but if it comes to it, all levels of government and disaster response will have to show us what they're made of—including FEMA. Because after Paulison's promise of preparation, I'm afraid I'm going to have FEMA to put their money where their mouth is come crunch time.