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Ex-FEMA Boss Weighs In On Federal Katrina Daze

Tribune photo by NEIL JOHNSON

Former FEMA director Michael Brown talks to a conference of property restoration businesses in Tampa.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

TAMPA - Former FEMA Director Michael Brown was in Tampa today to address a conference of property restoration businesses and shared his thoughts on Hurricane Katrina, Tampa's vulnerability to hurricanes, airport security and other topics.

Brown resigned from as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the government's ham-fisted response to the disaster in New Orleans after Katrina in 2005.

Brown became the focus of public frustration over the delay in delivering relief and its quality.

Since his resignation he has been involved in a software company, a disaster restoration firm and company that makes self-filtering water bottles.

What he would like to have done differently:

Tell the truth about how poorly the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Louisiana and New Orleans were doing in the aftermath of the storm.

"The American public deserved to know how dysfunctional the federal, state and local governments were after Katrina."

Remain closer to the scenes of destruction in New Orleans and Mississippi rather than obeying a directive to stay in Baton Rouge.

"I should have said I was going to stay in the field. Instead, I obeyed."

Weighing in on some current airport security measures, he called it "kabuki security," all show and little protection

An example is checking your identification before you head to the departure gate. That only shows your name and identification match that on the ticket, he said, not whether you're on a terrorism watch list.

"It's making the public think they're doing something."

On Tampa's vulnerability to hurricanes:

"Tampa is at the top of the worry list."

The combination of the potential for devastating flooding from storm surge, large population and long evacuation times combine to make the area one of the largest possible disasters sites in the country.

But Florida's disaster preparation reduces the danger.

"Florida governors get it, and Tampa gets knocked down the list because they do the right things."

When Hurricane Charley looked like it was aimed directly at Tampa in 2004, FEMA moved a response team to Orlando and had to evacuate it when the storm turned, hit Punta Gorda and crossed the state to strike Orlando.

How FEMA changed from 2004 through 2005:

In 2004, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge had a "hands-off" attitude toward FEMA and let Brown operate the agency relatively unfettered.

In 2005, Michael Chertoff was secretary and adopted a "matrixed organization," meaning people reported to more than one boss, adding delays and layers of bureaucracy to relief work.

"It was like, 'Who's on first.' "

Also, the FEMA director reported to Chertoff, who reported to the president.

"Before that, every FEMA director reported directly to the president."

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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