by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright September 11, 2005
All Rights Reserved.

urricane Katrina exposed Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] Director Michael Brown as an imposter well before Time Magazine reported gross exaggerations on his resumé. Category-5 hurricanes, major earthquakes and terrorist attacks have a way of disrupting the best-laid emergency management plans, including Homeland Security's National Response Plan, a 486-page blueprint designed to outline the federal government's response to national disasters. Promising “vastly improved coordination among federal, state, local and tribal organizations to help save lives,” the plan was supposed to integrate a coherent response to major disasters. When Katrina struck, federal officials acted more shell-shocked than many dislocated storm victims, whose lives were turned upside down. Hurricane Katrina has now turned into the country's worst public relations disaster.

      Saving lives and delivering emergency services was FEMA's responsibility, once President George W. Bush declared the Gulf Coast a federal disaster Aug. 29—the day hurricane Katrina hit the gulf. While there's plenty of blame to spread around, FEMA's response left thousands of New Orleans' residents stranded, fending for their lives. Reports about bureaucratic infighting and red-tape prevented first-responders like the National Guard, local police, firefighters and private relieve agencies from delivering urgent services, driving residents to looting for survival. “It was a sluggish response, almost a White House in slow motion,” said former White House advisor and now Harvard government professor David Gergen, expressing the collective frustration of a disheartened nation. Hurricane Katrina blew the country's invincible façade to a watching world.

      Faced with a PR nightmare, the White House had no choice but to lower the boom on Brown, instructing newly minted Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff to call Brown back to Washington for another assignment. Chertoff was very careful not to characterize Brown's reassignment as a demotion, announcing that Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen would take over daily relief operations. “Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,” Bush told Brown in Biloxi, Miss., only a few days before he got the ax. Brown's inexperience in emergency management had nothing to do with FEMA's failure to rapidly respond to the nation's worst natural disaster. Watching the White House, Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, National Guard, private relief agencies and U.S. military paralyzed for days sent a dangerous message to America's enemies contemplating the next terrorist attack.

      When Katrina took out electricity and mobile phone cites, communication became a problem. Redundant systems were not available to back up downed telephone lines and wireless transmitters. “The inability to get good information on the ground in New Orleans” was a major problem complained some senior White House officials, accounting for the government's chaotic response. Since Sept. 11, the government spent billions on homeland security, signing the Homeland Security Bill Nov. 26, 2002, combining 22 agencies, including FEMA, and over 170,000 employees, with a $40 billion annual budget. Critics questioned whether creating the nation's largest bureaucracy would really help the government respond to disasters. Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) warned that the new behemoth agency would “give the American people a false sense of security.”

      In the wake of Sept. 11, the government had to do something to tell America's enemies that the country was no longer vulnerable. Toppling the Taliban and Saddam Hussein were both strong statements that the U.S. was less susceptible to terrorist attacks. Fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, massive military expenditures and troop deployments and the preoccupation with terrorism spread the country's resources too thin to effectively manage homeland disasters. Jeffords was prophetic when he warned that combining too many federal agencies could lead to problems. You can't blame Brown for creating a monstrous bureaucracy that can't respond nimbly in times of national disaster. Coordinating local, state and federal disaster agencies have been complicated by a bulky bureaucracy incapable of acting decisively. Before the next disaster strikes, FEMA's role must be seriously reexamined.

      There's nothing wrong with getting rid of bureaucrats who fudge their resumés. But finding scapegoats won't correct the latest government boondoggle, caused, in part, by a knee-jerk response in the wake of Sept. 11. Creating Homeland Security wasn't supposed to tie the hands of essential federal agencies, including FEMA, Department of Immigration and Naturalization and Drug Enforcement Agency. “The continuing threat of terrorism, the threat of mass murder on our own soil will be met with a unified, effective response,” said Bush in 2002, commemorating the creation of the Homeland Security Department. Now that he's witnessed firsthand the lumbering behemoth in action, it's time to go back to drawing board and fix the system. Judging by the sluggish response to hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security must be retooled to better protect the homeland and national security.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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