Joe Allbaugh's Moneymaking Mission to the Gulf Coast

Bill Berkowitz
September 12, 2005

Less than two weeks after Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the former FEMA head was on the scene to drum up business for his clients

He was not there to hand out food or water; he was not there to participate in the rescue effort; and he was certainly not there to apologize for bringing the grossly incompetent Michael Brown to FEMA during his reign at the agency. On Wednesday, September 9, when Joseph Allbaugh, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), showed up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, he was there for one thing: to stir up business for his corporate clients.