President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would nominate Jeffrey Byard to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); the role was previously occupied by Brock Long who abruptly resigned last week.
Currently FEMA’s associate Administrator for Response and Recovery, a White House statement said that Byard is FEMA’s “senior-most executive over disaster response, recovery, logistics, and field operations.” Prior to joining FEMA in 2017, Byard worked multiple positions within Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency, including a role as its Executive Operations Officer.
Craig Fugate, who served as FEMA Director under the Obama administration, went to Twitter to express praise for the nomination. “A great choice,” Fugate Tweeted, adding that he first met Byard in 2004 during Hurricane Charlie in Florida. “He is an outstanding Emergency Manager.”
FEMA’s mission is “to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of ‘A Nation Prepared’.” On April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the executive order that created FEMA. The federal agency coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
