FEMA Chief Relieved of Duty

FEMA Director Michael Brown has been relieved of his duties in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Taking over is his deputy in the operation, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen. (story)

It's not a surprising move when you consider the criticism over FEMA's handling of this crisis. It's been reported that many church-based agencies were actually on the scene well before the Feds arrived (those who are critical of faith-based agencies please take note). There was even a team from Canada that arrived before FEMA did.

Is the criticism of FEMA warranted? This is the largest disaster ever to strike the U.S., after all. The logistics are too vast and complex for any one organization to handle on their own. The relief efforts going on there - and across the nation - depend on a massive group effort on the part of many people. I wonder how many people unaffected directly by the storm are or will be directly involved in the relief and recovery efforts when all is said and done. But it still doesn't explain why it appears that FEMA - whose job is to be first on the scene (after local agencies) - didn't make it until it was too late. I wonder if we'll ever know.

Perhaps it's a good thing - something that needed to happen in order to make FEMA better prepared for something that may happen in the future.

Meanwhile, the news out of New Orleans seems to indicate that perhaps not as many lives were lost as initially feared. Praise God.