Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff is going to great lengths to ensure that Hurricane Gustav isn’t a replay of Katrina.
In marked contrast to his performance in 2005, Chertoff this time has traveled to the projected path of the storm, meeting with local officials, assessing preparations and speaking with the media along the way.
The Homeland Security press office issued a statement saying Chertoff would travel first to Houma, LA, and then to New Orleans, where he was to meet with Mayor Ray Nagin. He was then expected to go to Baton Rouge, to meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal and monitor the storm’s progress.
Michael Chertoff
The Bush administration, harshly criticized for its inaction during the height of the Katrina devastation, is also showing sensitivity to the potential for destruction to the Gulf coast and to the party image.
President George Bush had been scheduled to address the Republican Convention today as it begins in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. His revised agenda now calls for a trip to Texas, where evacuees will be sheltered and emergency response efforts organized. Bush was briefed yesterday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Republicans announced other changes to the convention schedule today, cancelling many events.
“This is not a time for politics or celebration,” said Rick Davis, campaign manager for the McCain campaign. “It is a time for us to come together as Americans and assist the residents of the Gulf States.”
Chertoff, a former appeals judge and assistant U.S. attorney general, took the reins at Homeland Security just seven months before Katrina struck. In the early part of his term, he focused almost entirely on the war against terror, rarely addressing preparedness for natural disasters at home.
During 2006 Senate hearings investigating the response to Katrina, Chertoff admitted that he had placed too much confidence in former FEMA director Michael D. Brown. He conceded that he and his department had responded far too slowly with evacuation of refugees and delivery of supplies.
Members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said at the time that they were disturbed that when Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Chertoff continued on to Atlanta for a conference, apparently unaware of the scope of the disaster.
Chertoff said then that Katrina had been “one of the most difficult and traumatic experiences of my life.” He told the senators, “I am accountable and accept responsibility.”
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