Chertoff flayed for Katrina response

WASHINGTON — The homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, endured 2 1/2 hours of intense personal criticism on Wednesday by Senate Republicans and Democrats investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina, several of whom said he bore responsibility for a multitude of errors that prolonged the suffering of Gulf Coast residents.

The criticism of Chertoff was a painful turnabout for the former federal judge, who was confirmed unanimously a year ago to take over the department and until recently had largely escaped blame for the government's flawed response to the storm.

"The federal department that was supposed to lead, direct and coordinate the federal response to Katrina was time and again, late, uncertain and ineffective," Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, told Chertoff. He sat before her, his jaw clenched, and his head at times nodding.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., said that Chertoff's actions soon after the storm hit — when he flew to Atlanta for a conference, unaware of the extent of the New Orleans was flooding — were disturbing.

"How could you have left us with so many of those agencies so unprepared that when Katrina struck, they ran around like Keystone Kops," Lieberman asked, "uncertain about what they were supposed to do, or unable to do it?"

Chertoff told the senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee that Hurricane Katrina had been "one of the most difficult and traumatic experiences of my life." He added, "I am accountable and accept responsibility for the performance of the entire department, the bad and the good."

He acknowledged that he and his department had failed to respond adequately to the disaster, citing management lapses, improper deployment of staff and an unreliable communications system. He said that his department moved far too slowly to evacuate refugees who had packed the New Orleans Superdome and, later, the city's convention center.

"The worst element of this catastrophe personally is not criticism I've received," he said, "but the derision of people who did have their suffering unnecessarily prolonged because this department did not perform."

Chertoff, who took over the department seven months before Hurricane Katrina struck, focused most of his initial efforts on "the great calling of our generation," which he said was the war against terror. He rarely mentioned natural disasters or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is charged with leading disaster relief efforts.