Michael Brown
Michael Brown
Former administrator of FEMA who resigned from his position after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many americans blamed him for the slow response to help those in New Orleans in the aftermath of the deadly hurricane.
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth8 November 1954
CityGuymon, OK
hands secretary
but can I put it in the hands of Secretary Ridge or Secretary Chertoff? No.
allowed based builders catch developers last summer weather
Based on the summer we had last year, with all the rain, the weather now has allowed a lot of our developers and builders to catch up a little bit.
almost sure white
I'm almost sure it didn't go to the White House.
cause chance expect flooding good hits land
So, if Isabel comes onboard, hits land with a lot of rain, which we expect her to do, there's a very good chance of flooding and that's going to cause a lot of problems,
guess step
So I guess you want me to be the superhero, to step in there and take everyone out of New Orleans.
available money
Money was not available to do the follow-up.
bad gut tells
My gut tells me ... this is a bad one and a big one.
mean
My God, you mean it is that bad?
everybody jobs people served
People were getting homes, jobs - everybody was getting served one way or another.
became best budget country couple decided director disaster fema figure gave model money picked president serious time
When I became the director of FEMA a couple of years ago, I decided it was time we did some really serious catastrophic disaster planning. So the president gave me money through our budget to do that. And we went around the country to figure out what's the best model we can do for a catastrophic disaster in this country? And we picked New Orleans, Louisiana.
august coordinate football freshman helmet sure time trying youth
We want to make sure the first time someone straps on a football helmet isn't in August of their freshman year. We've had some youth programming, but it's been piecemeal. With the new plan, we're trying to coordinate this.
caused evidence nasa preserved sure
We want to make sure that this evidence ... is preserved in such a way that NASA can come in afterward and find out what caused this tragedy.
areas direct grateful hamper needed others outpouring rescue response skills support themselves volunteer volunteers
We're grateful for the outpouring of support already. But it's important that volunteer response is coordinated by the professionals who can direct volunteers with the appropriate skills to the hardest-hit areas where they are needed most. Self-dispatched volunteers and especially sightseers can put themselves and others in harm's way and hamper rescue efforts.
easy
Yes, it is painful. There is nothing easy about this.