Mammoth Lakes, Calif. – Michael Brown, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency director, said Wednesday that he deserved much of the blame for the government’s failures after Hurricane Katrina, saying he fell short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster and calling for help.
“I should have asked for the military sooner. I should have demanded the military sooner,” Brown told a gathering of meteorologists at a Sierra Nevada ski resort.
“It was beyond the capacity of the state and local governments, and it was beyond the capacity of FEMA,” Brown said.
Brown’s remarks Wednesday stood in sharp contrast to his testimony at a congressional hearing in September, when he blamed most of the government’s failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin – both Democrats.
He specifically targeted them for failing to evacuate New Orleans, restore order and improve communications.
“These are not FEMA roles,” Brown told the congressional committee. “FEMA doesn’t evacuate communities. FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications.”
On Wednesday, he told a gathering of broadcast and National Weather Service meteorologists that he failed to delegate responsibility and instead tried to attend to the details himself.
“It was the largest natural disaster ever to strike the United States – 92,000 square miles. Logistics were falling apart,” he said.
Before joining FEMA in 2001, Brown was a lawyer, held local government posts and headed the International Arabian Horse Association in Aurora. President Bush appointed him to head the agency in April 2003.
FEMA came under fire immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines Aug. 29, killing more than 1,300 in five states and leaving about 3,200 unaccounted for.
Brown was relieved of his command in the stricken region and recalled Sept. 9 to Washington. He resigned three days later, saying he feared he had become a distraction.
