FDIC Chair to Supervise Gulf Coast Recovery Efforts
The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was assigned by the Bush administration Tuesday to oversee the federal government’s disaster recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast.
Donald Powell, 64, a wealthy contributor to President Bush’s presidential campaign, will be in charge of coordinating long-term plans to rebuild the states hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in late summer. The sluggish federal response to Katrina, the first and most damaging of the two, has been widely criticized.
Powell will coordinate the administration’s relief efforts with Congress, state and local governments, and with private businesses. He has worked on economic development and housing issues -- two keys to rebuilding -- as a chamber of commerce official and university administrator, officials said.
The top federal official overseeing day-to-day Katrina recovery efforts, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, will leave that post by year’s end.
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