Well, now it’s confirmed. In the event of a cataclysmic disaster, we know the federal government will have plenty of time to evacuate to safer locales. Area residents? Well, they’re screwed.

WTOP is reporting today that after the Department of Homeland Security detected traces of a biological agent around the Mall during the protests against the war two weeks ago, it took them and the Centers for Disease Control six full days to notify local officials of the potential threat. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton are none too happy about the delay, seeing it as further evidence of crossed signals and half-assed contingency plans being hatched by the government’s newest and second-largest bureaucracy. Is it any surprise officials in surrounding counties have started reassessing emergency plans, carefully deleting out provisions dealing with federal assistance?

Stay tuned — DCist’s “Duct Tape and Plastic Sheeting Buyers Guide” is coming soon.