Mike Brown has resigned as head of FEMA… following widespread criticism about the agency’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

FEMA became a part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. That’s also when Brown rose to the top job. He’d previously served as FEMA’s Deputy Director and General Counsel.

Until Katrina, the Florida hurricanes of 2004 ranked as the largest disaster effort Brown had led. He spoke with WGCU 5 days after Charley’s landfall… Brown refuted the notion that preparing for a natural disaster was any different than preparing for a terrorist attack.

“What we train for, what we practice, what we teach, and how we respond is exactly the same whether it’s a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. In fact, I would encourage you… when you look at Florida, it is as bad or worse than a terrorist event. You have wide-spread power outages, you’ve had thousands of people evacuate. You have homes destroyed, infrastructure destroyed. Mother nature can act just like a terrorist.”

Again, that was Michael Brown—from an interview with WGCU last year. Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma. His biography—on FEMA’s website—mentions little experience in emergency management.