Two decades after Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, remains mired in controversy. Several employees were recently put on paid leave after criticizing the Trump administration’s overhaul in a letter to Congress. A FEMA spokesperson said it’s “not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform.” Scott Thuman reports on the state of FEMA, so far, twenty years after the disastrous Katrina response.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

When deadly flooding hit the Texas Hill Country on the Fourth of July, rescue workers found devastation and at least 135 dead.

In the aftermath were questions about the response, like was the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, delayed by a policy requiring the homeland security secretary to sign off on expenditures?

David Richardson is the acting FEMA chief.

David Richardson: “Texas got what they needed, when they needed it.”

Rep. Greg Stanton: “Your lack of visibility is shocking.”

Criticism of FEMA goes back at least two decades, when Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

The federal failures, summed up by President Bush’s tone deaf praise for then-FEMA director Michael Brown.

George W. Bush: “And Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job, the FEMA director is working twenty-four.”

As the storm was still raging, a U.S. army general was in Mississippi, watching and awaiting orders from Washington.

Lt. Gen Russel Honoré (ret): “Secretary Rumsfeld found out I was in Mississippi, and then they told the White House, and the word came back, get that general in New Orleans. So I got the mission that evening around 7:30, 8 o’clock, that I would command the Joint Task Force Katrina.”

Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, now retired, was called in because local, state, and even federal officials were overwhelmed. He commanded the military response to Katrina.

Russel Honoré: “A lot of people said, well, they picked him because he’s from Louisiana. It had nothing to do with it. I follow Napoleon’s first rule of warfare: you got to get there. And we were there, and I ended up with the mission that evening.”

Honoré arrived to thousands missing, thousands more trapped in the Superdome without supplies or adequate help.

Scott: “There were lessons already that you knew we needed to learn?”

Russel Honoré: “Oh yeah. We could have had more helicopters in there quicker, because we have enough troops there with the National Guard that was already deployed out of the state. We don’t have enough to do the search and rescue, but we can solve that. Let’s get the people that’s living that we can see do something positive. And the state had a plan to evacuate, but the buses didn’t show up.”

For General Honoré, the most important lesson for people facing a disaster is that in the first few hours, you have to rely on yourself and your neighbors.

Russel Honoré: “For the lifesaving phase, that first 24 hours, it’s imperative that people understand most of the lives saved in Katrina weren’t saved by uniformed people; they were saved by neighbors who got their boat out and took people to the overpass.”

Scott: “Do you think people have unrealistic expectations in those scenarios as to who was supposed to help them and how quickly?”

Russel Honoré: “Yeah, because the burden falls on the, we got parishes in Louisiana, but on the parish and the state, but in a real disaster, they get overmatched. FEMA is not 911. 911 is your local sheriff and fire department.”

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA saw a massive budget increase, focusing on disaster preparedness, pre-positioning equipment, supplies, and response teams.

But over the years, including last September when Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina, the agency was again heavily criticized for its response.

One FEMA worker was later fired after reportedly telling relief workers in Florida to avoid helping Trump supporters.

General Honoré is blunt when asked about President Biden’s response to Hurricane Helene.

Russel Honoré: “I would tell the entire military, get your helicopters ready, because in Helene, Biden fucked that up – and you can buzz that word out – they fucked it up because we got the 82nd, we got the 101st airborne, helicopters, and light fighters with little vehicles that can go up mountains, and helicopters within two hours of Helene inside the state. We got the 82nd Airborne Division – never got a call.”

Since he took office, President Trump has shrunk the size of FEMA, and he’s indicated he wants to see states taking the lead role after disasters. Honoré doesn’t like it.

Scott: “There is that argument that perhaps more of the responsibility, more of the power needs to be put in states’ hands.”

Russel Honoré: “There’s a reason we don’t let every governor have his own Coast Guard. It won’t make sense. There’s a reason we don’t have every governor command the Corps of Engineers in this state. There’s a reason we do that. It’s for accountability, and that we don’t need to replicate it in every state.”

Twenty years on, in New Orleans’ lower Ninth Ward, life has long been back to normal. New homes dot the area, but so too do the empty lots, where no one came back to rebuild.

General Honoré says FEMA is an agency the country needs, but he wants reform, as he says it has strayed from its original mission.

Russel Honoré: “The purpose of FEMA was to get people back in the house, and it’s been transformed as political favor. You with me?”

Scott: “Yes.”

Russel Honoré: “And of course, hurricanes come around election time, so all kind of favors be going out. Nobody get told no on any reconstruction during an election year. It ain’t going to happen. That money going to flow? FEMA should be fixed, not destroyed.”

Sharyl: “Fascinating. You know, 20 years ago I was covering Katrina for CBS News and did some investigative reporting there. What a mess. Is FEMA objectively better today – would you say – than it was?”

Scott: “Well, it certainly has the money for immediate needs, but it’s also staggering how fast that money can be spent when there is a disaster. For example, in one week last year before Hurricane Milton, FEMA spent $9 billion.”

Sharyl: “Oh my goodness. Hard to imagine that you can keep up with that in any way.”

Scott: “It’s a challenge.”

Sharyl: “Thanks, Scott.”

Watch video here.