BBC NEWS | Americas | Powell criticises storm response

"There were 'a lot of failures at a lot of levels - local, state and federal', Mr Powell told ABC.

'There was more than enough warning over time about the dangers to New Orleans - not enough was done,' he said.

Mr Powell's views will be heard with particular interest as he is a highly respected figure and a prominent black American, the BBC's Justin Webb reports from Washington.

The Pew Research Center, which ran the new opinion poll, also indicated that two-thirds of the African-Americans questioned believed the government reaction would have been faster if most of those affected had been white.

But Mr Powell said so many African-Americans were left unprotected be cause they were poor, rather than because they were black."