Oxford News

Security chief dissects Katrina

Ill-prepared FEMA was 'improvising'

Washington — Lack of preparation doomed the federal relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf region in late August, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday in his first extended explanation to Congress.

Under skeptical questioning about his leadership role, Chertoff told a House panel he had been "frustrated" and at times angry as he watched televised scenes of people stranded in the flooding and heard a caller tell a TV network that a hospital was not yet evacuated.

Describing a government response that was "overwhelmed by the magnitude of the storm," he said the federal operation did not have the modern supply systems, the communications gear or the needed links to the local communities.

"If you start to plan in an emergency, you're not planning, you're improvising," Chertoff said.

He took issue with former Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown, who told the same House panel earlier that FEMA had been hampered by budget and staff cutbacks and a dysfunctional state government in Louisiana.

Chertoff, whose department includes FEMA, said the emergency agency's funding had increased more than 28 percent during the last five years to $447 million and the number of employees had gone up from just over 2,000 to nearly 2,500.

Pressed to describe his activities during the emergency, Chertoff chronicled deteriorating relations with Brown after Katrina struck Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana on Aug. 29.

The next day, when the levees were giving way and water was rushing into New Orleans, Chertoff said he was unable to reach Brown until almost 8 p.m., despite efforts starting that morning.

By afternoon, "I made it very clear that I expected Mr. Brown forthwith to get in touch with me," Chertoff said, adding that he "lost my temper to some degree with his chief of staff."

Chertoff said Brown apparently spent his day out of communication range in a helicopter and added that he ordered the FEMA chief to stay on the ground in an operations center in Baton Rouge. He later relieved Brown of his oversight of the disaster. Brown resigned a few days later.

Both Republican and Democratic congressmen expressed doubts about Chertoff's leadership just before and after the disaster.

Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) said that reported chaos within the Louisiana government "blows me away," adding, "I have a feeling that the Department of Homeland Security is dysfunctional."

The department should have seen the looming catastrophe when New Orleans did not order mandatory evacuation on Aug. 27, Shays said.

"I get the feeling that you were a little detached from this," he told Chertoff.

"It's kind of like Pontius Pilate washing his hands." Shays added.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) accused Chertoff of "complacency" for staying at home Aug. 27 as the storm was bearing down on the coast.

Chertoff said he monitored events from home and went into the office on Sunday and made calls to governors of all three affected states. He said none of the governors expressed doubts about the federal preparations.

"I don't think there's a lack of a sense of urgency," Chertoff said, adding that the problem was a lack of preparedness he had first warned Congress about in testimony in July.

Chertoff said his department was aiming to improve its response by modernizing its systems for delivering and tracking supplies, creating extra capacity that would increase FEMA staffing during major disasters, adapting military and private sector communications gear, and replenishing FEMA's senior staff with experienced managers.

Chertoff's testimony Wednesday is part of a House investigation being conducted by a House select committee that has been largely boycotted by Democrats. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) refused to name members to the panel because she wants an outside commission to conduct the review.

The House panel is scheduled to release a report by Feb. 15.