Harvey is 'unequivocally' worse than Katrina: Fmr. FEMA Director Michael Brown

Ahead of President Trump’s planned visit to Texas areas ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, former FEMA Director Michael Brown urged the president to stay out of Houston’s city limits.

“I think what President Trump should do is go to Rockport, go to Corpus Christi where the storm actually made landfall because there are now recovery efforts going on there, but stay out of the area where response is still going on,” he told Stuart Varney on Monday during an interview on “Varney & Co.”

While there are currently active response efforts in Houston, Brown noted the economy surrounding the Houston metropolitan area is completely shut down due to the storm.

Brown, who served as FEMA director from 2003 to 2005 under President George W. Bush and oversaw Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, said he expects Harvey to be “unequivocally” worse than Katrina, from a business standpoint. Much of the economy in the Houston area is supported by oil companies, which have since shut down due to flooding and rainfall.

“The damage to businesses, the damage to homes, I think is going to be so extensive over such a wider area that this will way surpass Katrina in terms of cost to the economy and in terms of cost to the taxpayers,” he said.