To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. EDITOR’S LETTER Hurricane season 2009 THIS YEAR THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA FACES ITS FIRST HURRICANE SEASON AND,ASWE ALL SAW SO PAINFULLY IN 2005, FAILURE TO SUCCESSFULLY DEAL WITH NATURAL DISASTERS CAN HAVE DEVASTATING POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES. Fortunately, that lesson was learned in This year, the focus on FEMA will be the immediate wake of Hurricane Katrina, especially intense. The entire administraand political leaders and government offition will no doubt be judged by this one cials have been at great pains to never again agency’s performance. allow the kind of indifference, ignorance Fortunately, FEMA will have as its head and incompetence that marred the managea man who is widely regarded as the best ment of that disaster and the recovery of the emergency manager in the business— city of New Orleans and the entire Gulf coast. W. Craig Fugate, who is taking on the job Indeed, much to her credit since com- after a career in all aspects of emergency ing to office, Homeland Security Secretary response and management, from local first Janet Napolitano has focused considerresponder to director of Florida’s Division able attention on the recovery of the Gulf of Emergency Management. coast, visiting Louisiana, Mississippi and At his April 22 confirmation hearing Texas, appointing Janet Woodka to be the (held, appropriately enough, on Earth Day), Federal Coordinator of Rebuilding in the Fugate kept his focus on the future. Gulf Coast Region and Tony Russell to be “…Rather than look back at Katrina and acting director of the Louisiana TransiRita, I believe that it is critical to focus on tional Recovery Office. She has also FEMA’s preparedness—for all types of disasrealigned offices and dissolved temporary ters—moving forward,” he said. “Judging organizations in favor of permanent FEMA’s future success on the basis of offices that are part of the Federal Emer- whether it is ‘better than Katrina’ is not gency Management Agency (FEMA). viable. Although the media may use the failAll this is part of cleaning up the legacy ures of Katrina and Rita as a standard of of Katrina and the missteps of the previous measurement for judging the effectiveness administration. However, the true test of of government, this standard does not, in Napolitano’s Department of Homeland my opinion, meet our sworn commitment Security (DHS) and the new FEMA will be to the American people.” how they deal with this year’s disasters— If confirmed, he pledged, “I will hold and all disasters that occur on their watch. FEMA’s future response and recovery missions to a much higher standard of success.” BY DAVID SILVERBERG “If he meets the standard he intends to set, Fugate could emerge as a historic figure.” This reputation is a double-edged sword, though. It can give rise to unrealistic expectations. What is more, there is always a danger that an official who proved very competent at one level of government can be overwhelmed by new pressures and stresses at the next level—the old “Peter Principle” in which managers rise to their “level of incompetence.” So far that has not proven to be the case with Napolitano, and hopefully it won’t prove to be the case with Fugate. Certainly, Fugate has the advantage of widespread recognition of the importance of emergency management, which was absent pre-Katrina. People from the grassroots to the White House understand that knowledge, experience and competence count mightily when disaster strikes. Fugate brings all those qualities to FEMA. Fugate certainly raised the standard of emergency management in Florida and made it a national model. Now he has the chance to authoritatively make the model national and raise that standard very high. He will have much willing assistance in Congress, the White House and DHS. We, like the rest of the nation, will be watching his progress with interest. Hurricane season 2009 is upon us. It’s time for the transformation to begin. HST A rough start The overwhelming issues facing the country may have obscured for most people just how many natural disasters the country has already endured. As of this writing, there have been 18 major disasters since Inauguration Day and last year saw a record 75 declared natural disasters. This year tornadoes struck early in Oklahoma; severe flooding occurred in Kentucky and North Dakota; Oregon and Washington state suffered near-record snowfalls in early March accompanied by landslides and mudslides; and South Carolina and California had a severe outbreak of wildfires. Then, in late April we had a flu epidemic explode out of Mexico and the United States declared a health emergency. Now we have the annual threat of hurricane season. Challenges If he meets the standard he intends to set, Fugate could emerge as a historic figure and one of the greatest emergency managers in the nation’s history. It's similar to the time James Lee Witt revived a demoralized agency that had been battered by an ineffective response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992 under the administration of President George HW Bush. Witt not only brought innate ability and a good political sense to the job, he also had the advantage of a long and close relationship with President Bill Clinton. Fugate doesn’t come with Witt’s close personal ties to the president, but he has in his favor a solid reputation and respect across the spectrum of emergency management officials at all levels. Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters HSToday Magazine | June 2009 3