E-mails show Brown discounted reports of levee breach

E-mails: Brown discounted levee breach

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, former FEMA director Michael Brown dismissed reports that floodwaters had breached New Orleans' levees, and he obsessed over media coverage of his agency, according to newly released e-mails.

The 928 pages of documents, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity watchdog group and released Tuesday, paint a picture of a Federal Emergency Management Agency keenly sensitive to public image following the Aug. 29, 2005, storm.

They also highlighted anew the confusion about the levees' status in the critical hours after the storm. Critics have questioned whether discovering breaches earlier could have speeded repair efforts, lessened flooding and saved lives.

At one point early that morning, Brown reported to an aide that he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair" while waiting for media interviews to begin.

A few hours later, at 9:50 a.m., a FEMA staffer at the National Hurricane Center sent department brass an alert from a local TV station report that "a levee breach occurred along the industrial canal" near the city's low-income Ninth Ward.

But at 12:09 p.m., Brown dismissed the report and suggested that the situation wasn't so bad. "I'm being told here water over not a breach," he said, referring to floodwaters which had overrun - but not broken - the levees.

The aide, Michael Lowder, replied: "Ok. You probably have better info there. Just wanted to pass you what we hear."

Brown did not immediately respond to messages left on his cell phone and e-mail Tuesday.

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