Hurricane Idalia

Natural disaster.

In 2023, I was assigned the Federal Coordinating Officer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supporting recovery efforts from Hurricane Idalia, a destructive Category 4 that caused significant damage and flooding to homes, businesses, and the infrastructure in 32 declared Georgia counties. I needed to bring on many technical specialists to support current and past Presidentially declared disasters to ensure FEMA could fulfill its role in restoring the vital infrastructure of public facilities, services, and the economic base. Due to several large disasters running simultaneously, an external personnel contract was required to support Georgia’s recovery and avoid delays at a time when the Senate passed a second continuing resolution.

Estimates projected damages to be more than $67.5M for those who applied for FEMA assistance with debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent damage restoration. During this time, FEMA was faced with providing aid to unaccompanied minors at the U.S. border, refugee resettlement, an Ohio train derailment, a Mississippi water main break, and multiple frequent year-round and intense storms, which strained the agency’s response capacities. Specifically, there was a shortage of technical specialists in FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program to support these declared counties.

To respond to a challenging operating environment, I coordinated the accurate validation of damages from site inspectors to project formulation through obligation by tracking resources.

I studied the issues and identified 210 projects for 185 applicants that required the timely deployment of trained and qualified professionals. I spearheaded a Statement of Work to bring on independent contractors with the FLUOR contracting company with a six-month fixed contract in support of PA disaster operations. This very tight timeline required that I monitor deliverables to advance FEMA’s goals of reducing disaster loss and providing efficient and effective management of the overall project.

I assessed task assignments and administered human, fiscal, and material information resources in a manner that supported the technical contract specialists to conduct site inspections for sites with minor damage (e.g., to roads and non-structural building damage) in efforts to validate and record damage descriptions. I executed the operating budget, prepared budget requests with justification for the FLUOR contract, and managed resources. I used technology to enhance processes by creating a user-friendly template with the capability to track site inspections and projects completed. I worked with PA senior management to create visually detailed maps that identified the duty stations for the technical specialist. Since all technical specialists were deemed mid- or senior level, they were able to manage multiple projects, and I implemented a workforce planning concept to prioritize the most complex projects that required accurate quantification so they could promptly recommend solutions to issues, concerns, or problems. I leveraged technology to enhance mission achievement by developing a task assignment and monitoring dashboard to track the completion of site inspections.

As a result, the contract was completed on time and without an extension, and efforts were enthusiastically received across the state. The technical staff provided high-quality services and exceptional customer service to disaster survivors in multiple counties on schedule and with limited resources. The speed of recovery efforts within the state and local governments and private and non-profit sectors improved Georgians’ confidence in FEMA.