Fox News Taps Katrina-Era FEMA Director for Insights on Emergency Management After Hurricane Ian Hits Florida

Former FEMA Administrator Michael Brown appeared on Thursday’s edition of Your World with Neil Cavuto to share his insights on the government’s response to Hurricane Ian.

Brown was head of FEMA when Hurricane Katrina slammed into Gulf Coast states in 2005. The storm and resulting floods killed more than 1,800 people. He was heavily criticized for his handling of the disaster and relieved of his duties less than two weeks after Katrina made landfall. Three days later, he tendered his resignation.

Brown spoke about the difficulties emergency managers are facing in Florida with Neil Cavuto, who at one point asked Brown about his controversial handling of the Katrina response.

“Everyone remembers – I’m sure you’re sick of it, it’s probably indelibly imprinted in your skull now – that moment when President Bush [said], ‘heck of a job, Brownie,'” he began. “I know in retrospect you were trying to warn him about problems and all of that. And so, you became the poster child for, well, it’s not a heck of a job.”

Cavuto was referring to a comment then-President George W. Bush made during a photo op at the time when he said, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

Brown responded by saying he was about to tell Bush about the severity of the situation before the photo op, but he was interrupted before he could do so.

“I was trying to explain to the president what was going on,” Brown told Cavuto. “And we got interrupted and [someone] said look, ‘We’re running late, we gotta go out there now.'”

He went on to say that in hindsight, he should have forced the issue by saying, “Stop, the photo op can wait. The president must hear this.”

Brown then dispensed advice on breaking bad news to one’s superiors.

“So I would say to emergency managers, to mayors, to city councilmen, firefighters, responders: if you need to convey a message to your leadership, you’ve to get in front of them, you’ve got to step in front of them, block them, tackle them, whatever it is and say, ‘You’ve to hear this because if you don’t hear what I’m about to say, it’s going to come down on either you or me or both of us,'” he said. “This is just part of learning to communicate in the midst of a crisis. You’ve got to step back, make people take time out, calm down, and listen to what’s going on.”

Watch above via Fox News.