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Brock Long Says "Uncle!"

It is time to assess what FEMA's role is in disasters.

Brock Long, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator told Congress that his agency cannot keep up with the pace of disasters and his agency's mission and function need to be re-examined. See this article, "FEMA's Staff ‘Tapped Out’ After Mounting Disasters, Leader Says."

Duh, as I blogged about earlier on this site, FEMA does not have the personnel, full-time or part-time, to meet their mission requirements. Watch for a bunch of departures from the agency as wives and husbands finally come home and are told by their spouses, "Get a different job that doesn't leave me with everything here at home for months at a time."

As a FEMA employee, you cannot look your loved ones in the eye and tell them this is a "one-time event." The prognostications are that this trend in more frequent, intense and record breaking weather disasters is only beginning. 

Change your job, or change your spouse — these might be the choices. 

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.