Reflections on the "New American" Revolution
Friday, September 09, 2005
Director of FEMA Stripped of Role as Relief Leader
... the Bush administration on Friday abruptly removed the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael D. Brown, from oversight of the post-storm relief effort, and replaced him with Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard.
... The decision to remove Mr. Brown came as the entire federal government continued to have widespread and persistent trouble with its efforts to provide aid to evacuees and begin the cleanup in earnest. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees, now safe from immediate danger, faced a second wave of frustration over prolonged delays in finding assistance and navigating a maze of federal and local programs.
In Houston, local officials complained that FEMA's computer system kept crashing. In Ocean Springs, Miss., officials started turning people away from a FEMA disaster recovery center three hours before closing time, saying they were overwhelmed.
"There is so much chaos and dysfunction going on with the federal government that Dallas can't wait any longer for federal help," said Mayor Laura Miller of Dallas.
Chertoff, with Mr. Brown standing gamely if uncomfortably at his side at a news conference in Baton Rouge, portrayed the shift as his decision and one driven by the start of a new phase of the recovery. Mr. Brown, he said, had "done everything he possibly could to coordinate the federal response to this unprecedented challenge," and would retain his job as director of the agency.
... Mayor Miller said Dallas would start its own relief fund to help finance the removal of 1,500 evacuees from downtown shelters into apartments over the next 10 days.
"Where is FEMA national?" she said. "We keep being told that help is coming and so far we're not getting the help. So we will do what the government can't do. We will take the 1,500 people sleeping on cots and air mattresses and move them into apartments with beds and furniture and sheets and towels."
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