This article describes how federal, state, and local governments worked together on disaster relief after the Columbia space shuttle disaster. Provides 10 lessons learned to assist other communities in preparing for a disaster: planning makes all the difference; identify capabilities and resources needed ahead of time; overcome jurisdictional conflicts; don't compromise on training; understand the feds and help them understand you; information is hard to obtain, validate, and share; complicated incidents require sophisticated management; be proactive about communication; and relationships matter.