Michael Brown
Michael Brown
Former administrator of FEMA who resigned from his position after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many americans blamed him for the slow response to help those in New Orleans in the aftermath of the deadly hurricane.
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth8 November 1954
CityGuymon, OK
alabama breath conditions country deep doubt homes living needs people quite recognize reporter room
I think everyone in the country needs to take a big, collective, deep breath and recognize that there are a lot of people in this state, in Mississippi and Alabama who are living under conditions that, quite frankly, I doubt any reporter in this room is living under -- no food, no water, it's hot, it's sticky, their homes have been destroyed, they don't know where they're going to go next.
country disaster government help history stretched worst
This story's not about me. This story's about the worst disaster of the history of our country that stretched every government to its limit, and now we have to help these victims. That's all I've wanted to do.
coordinate country debate great help people policy prepare public true wants whether
We're not a first responder agency. We're there to coordinate and help people prepare and coordinate in times of disaster. And so if the country wants us to be more, then we should have a great public policy debate whether that's true or not,
became best budget country couple decided director disaster fema figure gave model money picked president serious time
When I became the director of FEMA a couple of years ago, I decided it was time we did some really serious catastrophic disaster planning. So the president gave me money through our budget to do that. And we went around the country to figure out what's the best model we can do for a catastrophic disaster in this country? And we picked New Orleans, Louisiana.
continue country disaster dog fema full good government help history home hug limit maybe meal mexican stiff stretched walk wife worst
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, ... This story's not about me. This story's about the worst disaster of the history of our country that stretched every government to its limit and now we have to help these victims.
agencies assumed follow resulting
just assumed that agencies would follow up on taskings resulting from the calls.
disaster help katrina ongoing people
People are getting the help they need, ... This is an ongoing disaster. This disaster didn't just end when Katrina left.
bringing massive medical teams urban
We're bringing in food, water, and the medical teams and urban search-and-rescue teams to have a massive response.
homes orleans people
I surmise there are people in New Orleans who won't be able to get back to their homes for months, if ever.
hours maybe screamed
Maybe I should have screamed 12 hours earlier.
whipping
Man, 54 years old, and I've never had a whipping like this in my life.
hoping serious
I'm hoping they get serious about evacuating New Orleans,
again air asking force obviously president questions reports talked television twice watching
I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One. He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches.
coming planned realizing worried worst
I think I told him that we were realizing our worst nightmare, that everything we had planned about, worried about, that FEMA, frankly, had worried about for 10 years was coming true.