Michael Chertoff Katrina Quotations

Mike managed over 160 disasters during his tenure at FEMA, and his service in those disasters has been commended by many, ... He has done everything he possibly could to coordinate the federal response to the unprecedented challenge posed by Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans levee breach. He is a good man, and I personally appreciate his work and his commitment.

He has done everything he possibly could to coordinate the federal response to the unprecedented challenge posed by Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans levee breach,

Katrina was a crash course in things that worked well and didn't work well.

Just two weeks out from Hurricane Katrina, improvements in communication and coordination between levels of government were already evident, ... But that is only one step in ensuring that we identify the lessons learned from Katrina and make the necessary adjustments.

Well, I said in July before Katrina that we had a lot more work to do in preparedness. And I think that was borne out, obviously, a month later.

We owe the American people a full accounting from all levels of government concerning what went right and what went wrong with the initial Katrina response,

As you know, the president has established the 'White House Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Response.' He will meet with us tomorrow to launch this effort. The Department of Homeland Security, along with other Departments, will be part of the task force and will assist the administration with its response to Hurricane Katrina,

By all measures, Hurricane Katrina was the largest natural disaster that FEMA has ever been called upon to support, ... Although FEMA pre-positioned significant numbers of personnel, assets and resources before the hurricane made landfall, we now know its capabilities were simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of this storm.

The devastation and tragic loss of life caused by Hurricane Katrina earlier this week reinforce the urgency of our coalition's work,