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FEMA should be
made separate agency
under new chief

THE ISSUE Federal agencies have been criticized for responding slowly to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

THE Bush administration has taken blistering criticism for its response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Many of the problems may have been systemic, and a major target has been the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which needs to be separate from the Department of Homeland Security and should have new leadership.

Michael Chertoff, secretary of homeland security, said he thought New Orleans had "dodged a bullet" when Katrina veered eastward, directly striking Mississippi. It wasn't until afterward that levees protecting the city from the waves resulting from the hurricane were overcome.

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," President Bush said.

Scientists in Louisiana had developed computer models during the 1990s showing that a sea surge would overwhelm the levees and had recommended that they be extended and strengthened. As recently as last year, federal, state and local officials participated in a drill called Hurricane Pam, predicting 10 to 15 feet of water in parts of the city and the evacuation of 1 million people.

National Guard troops were stationed in the Gulf Coast area in preparation for Katrina, but officials say they could not move quickly into New Orleans, and the Mississippi zone of destruction was too widespread to cover quickly.

In an open letter to the president, the New Orleans Times-Picayune pointed out that journalists went in and out of the city soon after the hurricane hit and, in the absence of government relief, witnessed 12 Wal-Mart tractor trailers entering the city last Thursday with food, water and supplies for victims.

That night, FEMA director Michael Brown said his agency had not known that thousands of people were stranded at the city's convention center, even though their plight had been reported all day. On Friday, President Bush told him, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." To the contrary, Katrina made it obvious that Brown is not suited for the job.

Brown, a lawyer, joined FEMA as general counsel in 2001 after being asked to resign as head of the International Arabian Horse Association, which organizes breeders and horse shows. He was hired by then-FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, Brown's former college roommate.

Allbaugh was Bush's chief of staff when he governed Texas and managed his first gubernatorial and 2000 presidential campaigns. Allbaugh now works for Halliburton Co., which was headed by Dick Cheney before he became vice president and has been contracted by the Navy to provide hurricane relief assistance.

We join the Times-Picayune in asking that Brown be the first FEMA official to be fired because of the agency's shamefully slow response to Katrina. Political cronyism has no place in providing leadership in response to natural disasters.

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