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by Richard W.
Stevenson and Anne E. Kornblut
New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 - Under intense
pressure to improve its response to Hurricane Katrina, the Bush
administration on Friday abruptly removed the head of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Michael D. Brown, from oversight of the
post-storm relief effort, and replaced him with Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen of
the Coast Guard.
Mr. Brown, who was hailed by President Bush last week for doing "a heck of
a job" in responding to the disaster, was stripped of his duties after
days in which the White House was pressed by lawmakers in both parties to
dismiss him for poor performance.
The action also came hours after a report on Time magazine's Web site that
Mr. Brown had inflated his résumé set off a new round of questions about
his qualifications. Newsday also reported inconsistencies in his résumé.
Admiral Allen, a career Coast Guard officer who had helped manage the
emergency response to the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, had been appointed
on Monday to be Mr. Brown's special deputy for hurricane relief. In his
new role, he will be what Michael Chertoff, the homeland security
secretary, described as "the principal federal official overseeing the
Hurricane Katrina response and recovery effort in the field."
Shortly before Mr. Chertoff spoke, officials in New Orleans reported that
an initial sweep of the city had found far fewer bodies than many had
expected in the wake of the devastating storm. Although the officials gave
no estimate of the final toll, the first widespread search for bodies
raised hopes that the final count could be much lower than the 10,000 the
mayor and others have predicted.
The decision to remove Mr. Brown came as the entire federal government
continued to have widespread and persistent trouble with its efforts to
provide aid to evacuees and begin the cleanup in earnest. Hundreds of
thousands of evacuees, now safe from immediate danger, faced a second wave
of frustration over prolonged delays in finding assistance and navigating
a maze of federal and local programs.
In Houston, local officials complained that FEMA's computer system kept
crashing. In Ocean Springs, Miss., officials started turning people away
from a FEMA disaster recovery center three hours before closing time,
saying they were overwhelmed.
"There is so much chaos and dysfunction going on with the federal
government that Dallas can't wait any longer for federal help," said Mayor
Laura Miller of Dallas.
Mr. Chertoff, with Mr. Brown standing gamely if uncomfortably at his side
at a news conference in Baton Rouge, portrayed the shift as his decision
and one driven by the start of a new phase of the recovery. Mr. Brown, he
said, had "done everything he possibly could to coordinate the federal
response to this unprecedented challenge," and would retain his job as
director of the agency. But the move left little doubt that Mr. Bush, who
is usually loath to resort to public dismissals of administration staff
members, wanted a change in leadership as he sought to erase the
widespread impression that his administration had failed to respond
quickly and aggressively enough to a crisis of immense proportions. Scott
McClellan, the White House spokesman, said Mr. Bush backed the decision.
The White House said on Friday that Mr. Bush would travel to Mississippi
and Louisiana on Sunday and Monday, his third trip to the region since the
storm. In Washington on Friday, Mr. Bush cited the fourth anniversary on
Sunday of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in describing the heroism
of police, firefighters and other first responders in other disasters,
like Hurricane Katrina.
"In these difficult days, we have again seen the great strength and
character and resolve of America," Mr. Bush said at a ceremony on the
South Lawn of the White House honoring first responders who were killed on
Sept. 11. "And we will continue to work to help the people who are
struggling."
A senior administration official, who would speak only on the condition of
anonymity, said Mr. Chertoff, whose department includes FEMA, told Mr.
Bush on Wednesday that he was thinking of moving Mr. Brown aside and
replacing him with Admiral Allen.
The official said Mr. Chertoff informed Andrew H. Card Jr., the White
House chief of staff, on Thursday evening that he had decided to make the
change and that Mr. Card then informed the president.
A Republican with close ties to the White House, also speaking on the
condition of anonymity, said Mr. Bush had made clear that he wanted a
change, a view reinforced by Vice President Dick Cheney's fact-finding
trip to Mississippi and Louisiana on Thursday. Mr. Cheney, the Republican
said, came back with a progress report that was critical of Mr. Brown's
management.
Admiral Allen told reporters in Baton Rouge that he had been informed of
his new role by Mr. Chertoff at 10 a.m. He said that search and rescue
operations remained the priority, but that he would be spending more time
on how to begin reconstituting communities decimated and dispersed by the
storm.
FEMA said Mr. Brown would not respond to a request for an interview. But
Mr. Brown told The Associated Press:
"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."
FEMA's relief operations have been under fire for more than a week,
bearing the brunt of the blame for leaving thousands of people stranded in
New Orleans without food, water, security or medical help.
The problems led to considerable frustration on Friday as evacuees and
state and local officials struggled to cope.
In Mississippi, some victims of the storm said they had called FEMA's
disaster assistance line but were told to check the Internet or wait for
postal service, which is not operating.
"I couldn't imagine people in Louisiana climbing down from a roof, finding
a phone and being told to get on the Internet," said a 41-year-old
schoolteacher from Ocean Springs who declined to give her name.
In Houston, Mayor Bill White sought local expertise to set up satellite
trucks with FEMA specifications to improve the agency's capacity to
operate its computers in the area. FEMA representatives said they welcomed
the offer and assured Houston officials that costs associated with the
assistance would be federally reimbursed.
Mayor Miller said Dallas would start its own relief fund to help finance
the removal of 1,500 evacuees from downtown shelters into apartments over
the next 10 days.
"Where is FEMA national?" she said. "We keep being told that help is
coming and so far we're not getting the help. So we will do what the
government can't do. We will take the 1,500 people sleeping on cots and
air mattresses and move them into apartments with beds and furniture and
sheets and towels."
In Washington, lawmakers continued to debate new reconstruction measures
of their own. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, called
for a Tennessee Valley Authority-style entity to oversee the
reconstruction of the Gulf Coast.
Last modified: September 10. 2005 12:00AM
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