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
anticipate honestly knew point potential president speaking worried
I was still worried about it, because I knew what the potential was. But I think the president was speaking honestly at that point that he didn't really anticipate that they would be breached because of all this conflicting information.
breach chief concern involved president videotape
I can tell you everyone involved in that videotape and in my conversations with the president and with the chief of staff, our concern was always the breach of the levees.
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.
again air asking force obviously president questions reports talked television twice watching
I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One. He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches.
certain house obligation president situation understood white
My obligation was to the White House and to make certain that the president understood what was going on and what the situation was. And I did that.
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.
continue country disaster dog fema full good government help history home hug limit maybe meal mexican stiff stretched walk wife worst
I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife and, maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims, ... This story's not about me. This story's about the worst disaster of the history of our country that stretched every government to its limit and now we have to help these victims.
difficult facing hope plight publicity
I hope to give them some publicity about the plight they're facing right now. They're in difficult straits right now.
hopeful meeting resolve
I'm very hopeful this work-group meeting will get us into the homestretch so we can resolve outstanding issues.