DHS vows to reform disaster response.

With hurricane season fast approaching, Department of Homeland Security officials are promising to apply lessons learned from last year's Katrina disaster by putting key reforms in place before June 1.

At the top of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff's list is replacing the Federal Emergency Management Agency's outdated computer and commodity tracking system.

"FEMA's logistics systems were not up to the task," Chertoff told a National Emergency Management Association conference.

A FEMA official told National Defense last year that the agency struggled to track commodities such as ice, water, food and medicine. The Washington, D.C., headquarters was unable to locate shipments or do last minute redirecting of trucks to send supplies where they were needed most. Global Positioning System cargo tracking, common in the private sector, has yet to be integrated.

DHS will also end the practice of entering into ad hoc trucking contracts through the Department of Transportation. Such contracts will be sorted out well ahead of the hurricane season, Chertoff said.

Chertoff, who came under harsh criticism for his Katrina performance from White House and congressional reports, admitted that at the time Katrina struck there were still turf battles within the relatively new department. Chertoff and former FEMA Director Michael Brown spent most of February in a tit-for-tat blame game.

FEMA will also end its reliance on volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross to gather information. The Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and other DHS agencies will be called into duty, Chertoff said. The information will be fed to a unified, virtual command center in Washington.

Acting FEMA Director Dave Paulison said the agency is already stocking up on food, ice and medicine to ensure there are no shortages. The public and media see the timely delivery of such commodities as a key indicator of whether the agency is doing its job.

Both DHS and FEMA will be scrutinized like never before this season, Paulison said.

"Americans want to know if we're going to be ready for future disasters," Paulison said.

Chertoff vowed that the short-term reforms will be in place by June 1.