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
director
No. No. I'm still the director of FEMA.
circumstance city dire relatively virtually
considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well.
agency best darkest direct government help job people reaches
There is no other government agency that reaches people in a more direct way, ... It has been the best job in the world to help Americans in their darkest hours.
areas direct grateful hamper needed others outpouring rescue response skills support themselves volunteer volunteers
We are grateful for the outpouring of support already, ... But it's important that volunteer response is coordinated by 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.
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.
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.
avoid director emergency federal further leave management mission ongoing resigned today
Today I resigned as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, ... As I told the president, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of FEMA.
cities community dire income less
This is a community that's in dire need of jobs, which has a median income of less than $19,000 a year, ... If we don't use this power, cities will die.
caused earlier needs public reports sure
I'm sure it caused some delay. I think the public needs to know there was some confusion, that we had reports earlier in the day of a breach.
alabama attitude concerned florida hit louisiana past people storms toward watched
I'm very concerned about people in Mississippi and Louisiana who have watched these storms the past two years hit Florida and Alabama and may have a little lackadaisical attitude toward this thing.
difficult disaster
in general, will show that this was a disaster of catastrophic proportions where communications were difficult at best, and communications were nonexistent at other times.
full media
I know that the media will be out in full force, on the ground, in boats, and in the air, but so will we,
bad gut knew
I knew in my gut this was the bad one.
center convention federal government people time until
The federal government did not even know about the convention center people until today.... Now is not the time to be blaming.