Former FEMA Head's e-mails

Louisiana Congressman posts e-mails from former head of FEMA Michael Brown

A PDF of Brown's e-mails

Some highlights:


"Can I quit now? Can I come home?" Brown wrote to Cindy Taylor, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs, the morning of the hurricane.

Melancon used an e-mail sent September 2, four days after the hurricane hit, to illustrate his point. On that day, Brown received a message with the subject "medical help." At the time, thousands of patients were being transported to the New Orleans airport, which had been converted to a makeshift hospital. Because of a lack of ventilators, medical personnel had to ventilate patients by hand for as long as 35 hours, according to Melancon.

The text of the e-mail reads: "Mike, Mickey and other medical equipment people have a 42-foot trailer full of beds, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, etc. They are wanting to take them where they can be used but need direction.

"Mickey specializes in ventilator patients so can be very helpful with acute care patients. If you could have someone contact him and let him know if he can be of service, he would appreciate it. Know you are busy but they really want to help."

Melancon said Brown didn't respond for four days, when he forwarded the original e-mail to FEMA Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks Altshuler and Deputy Director of Response Michael Lowder.

The text of Brown's e-mail to them read: "Can we use these people?"

I'm appalled by his responses and his attitude at the magnitude of the disaster. It clearly shows that he was underqualified for the position without any real understanding of the position's responsibilities or the consequences of his inaction. I suspect that anyone with any emergency training would have been more effective. I think the e-mail regarding the ventilators is the most heart-breaking of them all though -- how many more lives could have been saved had help been allowed through? People like this make me wonder -- how do they live with themselves with the consequences of their ineptitude? Do they ever really realize the lives they've destroyed? Is there ever justice administered to people like this?