Even if the United States is considered the global cop by leading efforts to curb threats that go beyond borders such as the Islamic State and Russia's expansionism, Washington isn't prepared to protect its citizens in case of a nuclear terrorist attack or similar threats to national safety.

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A General Accountability Office (GAO) report cited failure by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to always monitor safety efforts. This failure had an impact on states being prepared for major catastrophes, whether man-made or natural, such as a life-threatening weather disturbances like Superstorm Sandy, Fox News reports.

The report also blamed the lack of coordination by the Energy Department with state agencies and the private sector during Superstorm Sandy, which killed 182 people and damaged $65 billion worth of property.

The consequence of that unpreparedness is a five-year wait before the FEMA could craft a strategy that confirms exposure of the population to radiation, while there is a five- to ten-year waiting period before the agency comes up with a full medical response, according to the GAO report obtained by AP.

The basis of the report's alarming assessment are internal documents from Home Security Department, including a disaster plan made in 2013 which stressed required improvements if the country would suffer from an improvised nuclear device attack.

FEMA must put in place clear deadlines and estimate cost so agencies could meet their goals, the investigators said. They added that the bigger responsibility to take charge in coordinating response and establishing minimum benchmarks for agencies and collection status reports regularly belongs to FEMA.

Sen. Bob Casey, co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism, on hearing of the GAO report, comments, "This report makes clear that there are some areas of our country's preparedness that need strengthening up."

In response, Jim Crumpacker, director of the Departmental GAO-OIG Liaison Office of Homeland Security, said FEMA would continue to coordinate and collaborate with other federal department and agencies, but pointed out that it lacks legal authority to force other agencies to initiate action.

TagsFEMA, GAO, nuclear attack