Fema head quits after Katrina
2005-09-12 21:58
Washington - Michael Brown quit on Monday as head of the United States federal emergency management agency (Fema) after a torrent of criticism over the government response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, US media reported.
Brown was replaced as head of the relief operation on the Gulf Coast on Friday only a few days after President George W Bush had said he was doing "a heck of a job".
Brown said he was stepping down in the interests of the agency, CNN television reported. Fema made no immediate comment on the reports.
Lawmakers, state governments and residents had launched withering criticism of the federal response to the August 29 storm, for which the confirmed death toll has now risen above 500.
Brown had been replaced as head of the relief operation by Vice-Admiral Thad Allen from the US coast guard.
Blasted by Time magazine
But US media has kept up the onslaught against Brown, saying that his White House resumé seemed to have been padded and that he lacked the necessary expertise for dealing with disaster operations.
Time magazine said Brown lacked emergency relief experience before he joined the agency as a Bush appointee in 2001 and that there were discrepancies in his official Fema resumé and a White House media release from 2001.
The Washington Post said that five of eight top Fema officials - all with ties to Bush's 2000 campaign - had virtually no experience in handling disasters.
Bush, himself, also has faced outspoken criticism about his perceived lack of leadership in the crisis.
- AFP