WASHINGTON — Deanne Criswell was in Florida Friday with Gov. Ron DeSantis, assessing the historic damage from Hurricane Ian and facing her biggest challenge yet as the new head of FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Not only is she the first woman to hold that critical job -- the face of FEMA when desperate Americans are demanding help that can never get to them fast enough -- the agency, before her time, has been roundly criticized for not delivering on its core mission.
Biden referred to Criswell as the"MVP here these days" and observers have told ABC News that Criswell's background makes her uniquely qualified for the high-stakes job. Memories are still fresh of the fire and ridicule aimed at Michael Brown, FEMA administrator under George W. Bush, for how critics say he mishandled the Hurricane Katrina response, despite Bush famously telling him,"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."The agency has become nearly synonymous with the federal government's response to all manner of disasters -- floods, fires, pandemics and more.
"They need more people and resources," Eric Holdeman, the director of the Center for Regional Disaster Resilience for the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, told ABC News."The frequency of disasters, think about wildland fires that we've had, the heat emergencies that have been happening, tornadoes -- all of those end up as they become presidentially declared, FEMA's involved.
Aldrich said a major problem for FEMA after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and for Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a lack of pre-positioning resources.
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