ICYMI -- FEMA ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSES 2021 NEMA ANNUAL FORUM AND
HIGHLIGHTS THE EVOLVING ROLE OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS, EXPANDING RISKS
[https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20211013/icymi-fema-administrator-addresses-2021-nema-annual-forum-and-highlights]


Release Date: 
octobre 13, 2021 

WASHINGTON -- FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell addressed the
nation’s emergency managers today at the 2021 National Emergency
Management Association’s Annual Forum
[https://www.nemaweb.org/index.php/forums-meetings/nema-annual-forum]
in Cleveland. This was her first appearance as the FEMA Administrator
at the event since she joined the agency in April of this year.

Administrator Criswell’s speech focused on two themes -- the way our
role as emergency managers is evolving and how the risks we face, in
large part due to climate change, are increasing. 

“AFTER EVERY MAJOR DISASTER, THE FIELD OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
CHANGES. THE ‘BIG ONES’ ARE MORE THAN JUST HISTORIC EVENTS –
THEY ALSO REPRESENT THE MARKERS OF FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES IN OUR
FIELD,” SAID ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL. “MAJOR DISASTERS AND
INCIDENTS IN OUR FIELD HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A CATALYST FOR CHANGE. AFTER
EVERY INCIDENT, WE REFLECT AND LEARN AND REMAKE OUR PROFESSION TO BE
STRONGER, MORE DYNAMIC, MORE MATURE AND MORE CAPABLE,” CRISWELL
SAID. “WE’RE SEEING CHANGE – TREMENDOUS CHANGE – IN BOTH THE
LANDSCAPE OF RISK AND IN OUR PROFESSIONAL ROLES.”

> Graphic 
>  [NEMA Annual Forum 2021, Oct. 12-15, Cleveland, Ohio]

The Administrator discussed how emergency managers continue to face
increasing expectations to coordinate emergency responses that have
been traditionally outside of the industry’s scope. From a public
health crisis like COVID-19 to sheltering operations for migrant
children crossing the southern border, and cyber security attacks
affecting the nation’s critical infrastructure, emergency managers
throughout the country are dealing with issues that impact all of our
communities on a daily basis.

Click here
[https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/fema-administrator-deanne-criswells-remarks-nema-2021-annual-forum]
for a full transcript of the Administrator’s speech.

Later this week, the Administrator will travel to Grand Rapids, Mich.,
to address the 2021 International Association of Emergency Managers
conference [https://www.iaem.org/]. She plans to focus her speech on
the effects of climate change and the risks that will accompany future
events.