In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing yesterday on the nomination of Craig Fugate for Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Fugate received enthusiastic backing from committee members and his confirmation seems assured. 

From a citizen preparedness perspective, I think it was terrific that very early in his opening statement Fugate made the point that the public should be seen “as a resource not a liability” when it comes to disasters. Also, in response to a senator’s question, Fugate said that determining the best ways of communicating with the citizenry on disasters is a priority. He noted that if government officials are not able to warn the public effectively about an emergency “at 3:0oam when no one is watching television” then we don’t have robust enough warning systems and improvements must be made. Video of the full hearing can be found on the Committee website here.