Former FEMA Head Hired to Advise Louisiana Governor -- Says Crisis 'Our Worst Nightmare'

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- James Lee Witt, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency director hired to advise Louisiana's governor, described the crisis Sunday in the hurricane-ravaged state as ''our worst nightmare.''

He said he couldn't estimate how long the recovery would take.

In New Orleans alone, the levees will have to be fixed and the water pumped out. After that, crews will have to get in to assess the damage and determine which structures are too unstable to remain. Utilities are down in several areas. There's also historic preservation to think about, he said Sunday on MSNBC.

''This was our worst nightmare,'' Witt said. ''You could point the finger at anybody and everybody. ... I don't think they turned a blind eye. I don't think the state did. I don't think the mayor did. I think they worked as fast as they could to do whatever they could.''

Before Witt became director, FEMA was criticized for its slow response to Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo. With Witt in charge in 1993-2001, the agency won praise for its vigorous reaction to the Midwest floods and the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles.

Witt repeated his criticism Sunday that the reorganization that put FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security had hurt the agency's ability to deal with natural disasters. He said a lot of resources also had been depleted by the war in Iraq.

Witt now heads the crisis and emergency management consulting firm James Lee Witt Associates. He said he was called by the governor Thursday and would stay in Louisiana as long as needed.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that when she told FEMA Director Mike Brown she was hiring Witt, ''he said, 'That is absolutely the right thing to do. He will make a huge difference.'''