NYT: Ex-FEMA Leader Says Bush Aides Knew of Floods

[Pirate Smile]

Ex-FEMA Leader Says Bush Aides Knew of Floods

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — Michael D. Brown, the former federal emergency management chief who became a ridiculed symbol of the Bush administration's flawed response to Hurricane Katrina, returned in anger to Capitol Hill on Friday and lashed back at his former superiors.

Mr. Brown said that he told a senior White House official early on of the New Orleans flooding, and that the administration was too focused on terrorism to respond properly to natural disasters.

Testifying before a Senate committee, Mr. Brown said he notified a senior White House official — who he said was probably Joe Hagin, the deputy White House chief of staff, but might have been Andrew H. Card Jr., the chief of staff — on the day the hurricane hit to report that it had turned into his "worst nightmare" and that New Orleans was flooding.

It was the first public identification of any White House official who was said to have directly received reports of extensive flooding on Monday, Aug. 29, the day Hurricane Katrina hit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/politics/11katrina.html?hp&ex=1139634000&en=d1ba9d3faa7eef17&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Washington Post article:

Brown Blames Superiors For Response to Katrina

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 11, 2006; Page A01

Michael D. Brown, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency director, accused the Bush administration yesterday of setting the nation's disaster preparedness on a "path to failure" before Hurricane Katrina by overemphasizing the threat of terrorism, and of discounting warnings on the day the storm hit that a worst-case flood was enveloping New Orleans.

Brown called "a little disingenuous" and "just baloney" assertions by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other top Bush administration officials that they were unaware of the severity of the catastrophe for a day after Katrina struck on Aug. 29. Investigators say their inaction delayed the launch of federal emergency measures, rescue efforts and aid to tens of thousands of stranded New Orleans residents.

Brown's highly charged testimony before a Senate investigative panel was a striking about-face from his comments to its House counterpart in September, when he was still on the administration payroll. At that time, Brown leveled his harshest criticism for what President Bush has called an "inadequate" response at Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) and New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin (D), who Brown said failed to fully evacuate the city and to forge a unified command.

His sometimes combative exchanges with senators also offered a rare glimpse of a former Bush official publicly criticizing the administration. He sharpened his earlier criticism and named people whom he had previously described only in general terms.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/10/AR2006021000267.html

[spindrifter]

1. Brownie flunks the message method...

Brownie should have said, what was really going on: the administration was too involved in their vacations to focus on the biggest natural disaster in American history. In other words, they did not even have a quasi-legitimate reason for not getting off their butts and figuring how to save our people along the Gulf Coast. I would not have given them the focused on terrorism excuse to cover their unforgiveable neglect.

[Erika]

4. W will never outlive his overt discrimination in Katrina

Never. The world saw his lack of response while he and his administration played elsewhere. W was shown strumming the guitar and Rummmy was at a ball game. While NO was flooding.

W has zero compassion for the poor and -10 for the black poor. Babs taught him well.

[CJCRANE]

2. The whole f*cking world watched the hurricane

from a week before it hit NO, as it hit, and in the aftermath.

[YvonneCa]

3. This is Bush flunking...

...AGAIN. Just like on 9/11...he's on vacation and out of touch. THIS is what they don't want out there. Once was bad enough...but TWICE?? :patriot:

[CottonBear]

5. How could BushCo NOT have known? The rest of the world did know.

We all watched it on live TV.

Brown & all of his Bushco buddies need to be tried for allowing thousands of Americans to suffer and die. :grr:

:cry:

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. Feed the poor, and house the Homeless???

.
.
.

That's not the American way ya know . . .

They got wars to fight and oil to steal . .

Time to drag that Statue of Liberty back to France -

It sure don't belong in the USA methinks

Sorta like a 30 year old hooker with a sign saying "I'm a Virgin"

yeah

right

[rodeodance]

7. It wasfunny listening to the two Chertoff coons play word games in the

afternoon--basically how they were trying to determine what was going on (in essence saying they did not know how flooded of if NO was indeed flooded)--they played word games--overflow, breached, broken ect levy.

[rodeodance]

8. nominate

[ninkasi]

9. It took a great effort

not to be aware of what was going on when Katrina hit. We watched it unfold on TV, we watched people suffer, and we watched people die, and Bush couldn't be bothered to find out about it? This is the man who claims he has to illegally wiretap us to "keep Americans safe", but he can't save one of America's great cities because he's on vacation?

He was out of touch, and quite frankly, didn't care what happened to a bunch of poor black people. They weren't the haves, or the have mores, and didn't vote for him, so he let them die. He only reason he pretended to care later was because his poll numbers were falling. If not for that, I doubt he would have even mentioned Katrina, much less made so many photo-op trips when it was too late.

[Toots]

10. was a striking about-face from his comments to its House counterpart

Could this become Perjury? He obviously didn't tell the truth at one of these Congressional hearings...They all seem to LIE very easily...

[slide to the left]

11. The hurricanes

K. was the week before my wedding and I knew everything about it, and R was the week of my honeymoon and I knew all about it. Almost changed my flight since I live in Dallas. Called my girlfriends that live in Houston to make sure they were ok. Knew what was going on with my company, who was moving out data center from Houston to Dallas in advance of Rita. This was one of the busiest and important times of my life and I knew everything that was going on, and I was taking care of things while I was on my honeymoon. The presidon't should have done atleast that much.

[MadMaddie]

14. He couldn't cloud his butiful mind.....

With the sufferring and desperation of American people, especially people he couldn't get funds for his fundraisers and his political party.

Isn't it sad that you knew the status of the events during one of the most hectic times you will ever experience and he was on vacation, vegetaten, rounding up brush. :wtf:

Congrats on your wedding and welcome to DU!!:hi:

[Toucano]

12. He doesn't remember if he told Card or Hagin?

That seems strange.

[wordpix2]

13. said he mostly spoke with Hagen because Card was on vacation

Also, Bush was on vacation.

Didn't these assholes learn anything from 9-11, when all of DC was on vacation in August and the PDB about OBL Determined to Strike Within US came out?

What a bunch of f**&$$$#ing dangerous morons and incompetents.

[savemefromdumbya]

15. Nobody could find Bush - remember

I seem to remember the Gov of Louisiana trying frantically to contact Bush. Card said that he would pass the message on.