Disaster response chief quits after Katrina

The director of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Michael Brown resigned today after being recalled to Washington amid criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

In an apparent nod to demands that Brown be replaced by someone with experience in emergency response, President George W. Bush replaced Brown with David Paulison, a veteran firefighter who now runs FEMA's preparedness division.

Paulison was also the Homeland Security official who urged Americans to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting in 2003 to protect against a biological or chemical attack, a recommendation that was widely ridiculed in the media.

Brown, who was widely criticised for a slow federal response to the devastating Hurricane Katrina, resigned effective immediately.

"Today I resigned as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency," said Brown, who ran the organisation since 2003. "As I told the president, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of FEMA."

In an ABC News interview, Brown defended the agency's response to the crisis and said the United States needed to have a debate about FEMA's role in national emergencies.

"We're not a first responder agency. We're there to coordinate and help people prepare and coordinate in times of disaster. And so if the country wants us to be more, then we should have a great public policy debate whether that's true or not," Brown said.

Brown was pulled out of Gulf Coast operations on Friday and replaced on the ground with Vice Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard.

Bush had praised Brown for doing a "heck of a job" in the first days of the disaster that killed hundreds in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and displaced 1 million people. He later was pressed by Democrats and others to fire Brown.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush discussed Brown's resignation with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the way home from visiting the Gulf Coast area.

"The president appreciates Mike Brown's service," McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One. "This was Mike Brown's decision. This was a decision he made."

Shortly after Brown's resignation, Bush named Paulison, the former Miami fire chief with 30 years of fire rescue service experience, as acting FEMA director.

Chertoff said Brown had done "everything he possibly could" to respond to the hurricane and flood in New Orleans. He also said he would name more people to senior positions at the agency in the coming days.

Brown was a close friend of Joe Allbaugh, the previous FEMA head who was Bush's chief of staff when he was Governor of Texas, and the National Campaign Manager for Bush's 2000 election campaign.

Brown served as commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association before joining FEMA in 2001. He has been accused of exaggerating his background in disaster relief in his official biography and resume.

Democrats praised the change but said the administration needed to ensure that the country was capable of responding to another major disaster.

Republicans in Congress have initiated an investigation into what went wrong with the government's initial response to Katrina.

- REUTERS