US FEMA chief blames everyone but himself

MICHAEL Brown, the former US government emergency director aggresively defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina yesterday, blaming Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin for failing to communicate.

Mr Brown, who resigned as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after being removed of responsibility for New Orleans, told a congressional panel set up by Republican leaders to investigate the response to Katrina: "My biggest mistake was not recognising by Saturday [two days before the storm hit] that Louisiana was dysfunctional."

Mr Brown, who for many became a symbol of government failures in the disaster, rejected accusations that he was too inexperienced for the job.

"I’ve overseen over 150 presidentially declared disasters. I know what I’m doing, and I think I do a pretty darn good job of it," Mr Brown said.
(related article Pattern Emerges in Katrina Lack of Response Stories)

He also said that in the days before the storm, he expressed his concerns that "this is going to be a bad one" in phone conversations and e-mails with President George Bush, the White House chief of staff Andy Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin.

Mr Brown blamed the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for not acquiring better equipment before the storm.

His efforts to shift blame drew sharp criticism from Democratic and Republican politicians alike. "I’m happy you left," said Connecticut Republican Representative Christopher Shays. "That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren’t capable of doing that job."

And William Jefferson, a Lousiana Democrat, said: "I find it absolutely stunning that this hearing would start out with you laying the blame for FEMA’s failings at the feet of the governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans."

Mr Brown, said he had made several "specific mistakes" and listed two. One was not having more media briefings. As to the other, he said: "I very strongly personally regret that I was unable to persuade Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their differences, and work together."

"The people of FEMA are tired of being beat up, and they don’t deserve it."

Meanwhile nearly 250 New Orleans police officers - almost 15 per cent of the force - could face a special tribunal because they left their posts without permission during Hurricane Katrina and the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=2004082005

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Bruce Gilbert, Universal’s general counsel, told me yesterday, "Those supplies were in fact taken from us by FEMA, and we were unable to get them to the hospital"

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