Ex-FEMA Chief Shifts Katrina Blame to DHS - Yahoo! News

Ex-FEMA Chief Shifts Katrina Blame to DHS - Yahoo! News: "By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Feb 10, 6:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Former federal disaster chief Michael Brown, the face of the government's listless response to Hurricane Katrina, said Friday he told top Bush officials the day the storm howled ashore of massive flooding in New Orleans and warned 'we were realizing our worst nightmare.'

More defiant than defensive, Brown told senators he dealt directly with White House officials the day of the Aug. 29 storm, including chief of staff Andrew Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin.

He also said officials from the Department of
Homeland Security were getting regular briefings that day. Administration officials have said they did not realize the severe damage Katrina had caused until after the storm had passed.

Under oath, Brown told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that he could not explain why his appeals failed to produce a faster response.

'I expected them to cut every piece of red tape, do everything they could ... that I didn't want to hear anybody say that we couldn't do everything they humanly could to respond to this,' Brown said about a video conference with administration officials — in which
President Bush briefly participated — the day before Katrina hit. 'Because I knew in my gut this was the bad one.'"