FEMA Head Removed from Katrina Duties; Smoking Gun FEMA Memos Found

AP reports that "Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being relieved of his command of the Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina onsite relief efforts, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Friday.

He will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts, Chertoff said."

But will Brown be the only Administration official removed over the botched post-Hurricane Katrina debacle?

A story is breaking over at DailyKos that a bipartisan team from the House Committee on Government Reform , Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and ranking Democratic member Henry Waxman (D-CA), have uncovered a "smoking gun" showing that the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA clearly understood the catastrophic potential of a strong hurricane on the Gulf coast region.

Writes Sharon Jumper at DailyKos, "Rep. Waxman does it again!

He's just posted a letter to Secretary Chertoff from Ranking Member Waxman and Chairman Davis which describes documents from the Department of Homeland Security that show that FEMA was aware in 2004 that a 'catastrophic hurricane' could hit New Orleans and "trap hundreds of thousands of people in flooded areas and leave up to one million people homeless." FEMA officials wrote: 'the gravity of the situation calls for an extraordinary level of advance planning.' "

Here is a direct link to the Congressional letter sent today by this bipartisan team of Congressmen, requesting all information about this study, its results and Administration conclusions drawn from it.

Full knowledge in 2004 by the Administration of the disastrous impact of a large-scale hurricane on New Orleans would imply.... first, that it was extraordinarily negligent in not having FEMA resources ready and available to quickly aid the City of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; and second, that it fully understood the impact of its 2004 and 2005 budgetary decisions to deny federal funds to strengthen New Orleans' storm systems.

I will be watching this story, and promise to keep you posted.
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