FEMA chief works to polish agency's image

WASHINGTON -- Craig Fugate isn't your typical weather junkie.

As head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fugate's interest in weather goes far beyond the next high-pressure system. He's constantly on alert for potential disasters, from Guam to Maine. And he's ready — he hopes — to respond, preferably before the next storm hits.

Years of monitoring up-to-the-minute data have given him a special instinct about weather-related danger.

"You kind of learn there are certain things you want to look for," he said during a recent interview in his spacious office a block from the National Mall. "I don't know of every instance or everything happening, but I do keep an eye on things that are significant or have the potential to become significant. I've been in this business long enough to know that calls between midnight and six a.m. are not usually good news."

Fugate, 52, has been the nation's chief emergency responder for two-and-a-half years. For eight years before that, he ran Florida's Department of Emergency Management.

State and local emergency officials credit him with restoring a professional shine to an agency tarnished by its response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Using social media, Fugate has emphasized readiness and outreach to organizations and businesses that haven't been traditional partners in disaster planning.

But FEMA also has been buffeted by recent fights on Capitol Hill over its budget, disaster declarations and a decision to demand disaster relief money back from thousands of Katrina victims whom the agency says were overcompensated.

"You've got the toughest job in America," Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul of New York told Fugate at a recent hearing.

During the 1980s, Fugate fought fires and served as a paramedic in Alachua County, Fla., before rising through the ranks to become the county's top emergency responder.

Impressed with Fugate's performance, then-Gov. Jeb Bush tapped him to run state operations, even though he lacked a college degree.

Fugate's reputation for deftly dealing with disasters, including four major hurricanes in 2004, grew beyond the Sunshine State. In 2009, President Obama appointed him to run FEMA, an agency with more than 7,400 employees and an annual budget of more than $7 billion.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Fugate stood out from others who sought the job.

"His depth of experience and background obviously were major plus factors," she said. "His no-nonsense but also creative approach to disaster management I found compelling. And he was the only applicant that came into my office wearing a Florida Gators tie."

Fugate's appointment pleased emergency managers around the country who had gotten used to seeing FEMA run by political appointees with little experience coordinating disaster response.

Michael Brown, who ran the International Arabian Horse Association before President George W. Bush appointed him to head FEMA in 2003, was savaged for his sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina, a misstep that still haunts the agency. His predecessor, Joe Allbaugh, was Bush's campaign manager in 2000.

Fugate's hiring "signified a shift to professional emergency management by the new administration," said Jim Mullen, Washington state's top emergency official.