Ex-FEMA Chief Blames DHS For Katrina Response

One of the big stories here in Washington today, is the testimony of Michael Brown, the former administrator of the Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA). It is well known that Brown resigned from his post at DHS in the first few days during the response to Hurricane Katrina. Upon arriving at home this evening, I turned the tv to CSPAN, and what do I find, but the Senate's Homeland Security and Government Reform Committee's hearing on the response to Hurricane Katrina and Michael Brown was testifying before the committee. I watched about 15-20 minutes of the testimony before I turned it off. DHS and the White House have made Brown the scapegoat for their failures during the response effort. Brown blames DHS and the White House for ignoring his warnings about the hurricane. Who should Congress and us as citizens believe?

During Brown's testimony, he specifically mentioned the fact that DHS is more concerned with responding and preventing terrorist attacks and that FEMA is the stepchild of DHS. I think there very well may be some truth to this statement. Being a homeland security contractor, I have noticed a focus responding to terrorist attacks. This is understandable considering the September 11th attacks. However, there is something to be said of putting all your eggs into one basket. Even on DHS' website, their mission statement is: "We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce."

Nowhere in this mission statement does it state anything about natural disasters such as hurricanes, although, I suppose you could infer that responding to hazards could be loosely interpreted natural disasters. In my opinion, I don't think I can infer that their mission statement includes natural disasters. But if you look a little deeper on DHS' website, you can see their strategic goals. One of their strategic goals is response. This includes: "Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies." This is the only section that refers to natural disasters.

You would think that with FEMA being absorbed into DHS, courtesy of the Homeland Security Act, in 2001, that one of DHS' missions would be to lead the unified national dffort to respond to natural disasters that occur within our borders. To me, DHS should take more of a concerted effort to put as much effort into preventing and responding to terrorism into our response to natural disasters.

I see this as growing pains for a new government agency. So many government organizations were forced to merge into one larger organization, organizations that, in the past, had a very limited history in working together to achieve a similar goal. This integration is obviously going to take time, and it was clearly on display for us during Katrina.

In order to be effective, DHS needs to ensure that they are prepared in the future to respond to natural disasters so the effort that was put forth during Katrina is not repeated. This means, DHS should concentrate just as much on natural disaster response as they do to preparing for responses to acts of terrorism.