An eye-opening report says most U.S. cities -- including Louisville -- don't make the grade when it comes to emergency communications.

The new federal report says just six cities or regions out of 75 have the right equipment and training to communicate in a crisis.

The federal score card, which came out Wednesday, says Louisville isn't the best but is far from the worst when it comes to agencies being able to talk to one another in a crisis like a terrorist attack or natural disaster. And a big reason is MetroSafe.

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MetroSafe is command central in case of a disaster. From here, authorities can coordinate the efforts of 3,700 first responders in Metro Louisville.

The process began with a bang in April at Thunder Over Louisville, when Louisville became the first city to be graded by Homeland Security officials.

Emergency Management Director Doug Hamilton says in the six months since the evaluation

So far, $22 million has been spent on MetroSafe and it's supposed to be finished in a couple years after spending $45 million more on towers, radios and computers.

But Emergency Management Director Doug Hamilton says most of that comes from the feds. In fact, he says 36 cents of every dollar spent so far on MetroSafe has come from federal grants.

Washington DC, Columbus Ohio and Minneapolis-St. Paul are among the six regions receiving the highest scores. Among those getting the lowest scores: Chicago, Cleveland and Baton Rouge.