Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announces that Mike Brown, the embattled director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is being relieved from daily direction of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

In his place, Vice Adm. Thad Allen, the number three official of the Coast Guard, will coordinate the federal effort. Allen has been leading relief and rescue efforts in New Orleans.

Chertoff said Brown is needed for the ongoing planning for further hurricanes or other disasters. Brown has led FEMA since being nominated by President Bush in 2003.

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