MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Robert Fenton, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was at the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County on Monday, the first day of this hurricane season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association forecasted a 55% chance of a below-normal season. Fenton, FEMA’s senior official since May 12, also served as FEMA administrator in 2021 and 2017.
Fenton said FEMA counts on nearly 20,000 staff, and on about 7,000 volunteers from Homeland Security’s surge capacity force program, if an incident exceeds FEMA’s capacity to respond.
“It’s not just FEMA, it starts with local and state government, and their capabilities ... they are really the lead for disasters,” Fenton said.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Pete Gomez, the director of the Miami-Dade Emergency Management Department, said the county is ready.
“We still have FEMA, that’s good news, and we know that yes, there has been talk about shifting some of the expenses to the state and to local communities, but we are ready and we have a very strong relationship with our state emergency management, which also does a fantastic job,” Levine Cava said.
The overall message from the NHC, the Coast Guard, and other agencies was for the public to be prepared for the possibility of a hurricane.
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