Deanne Criswell
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Deanne Bennett Criswell attended elementary and high school in Michigan. She received her undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and an M.P.A. from University of Colorado, Denver. She received a master’s in homeland security from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Criswell served in the Colorado Air National Guard and deployed after the attacks of September 11, 2001. She served as a firefighter for 21 years. She managed the Aurora, Colorado, Office of Emergency Management before serving in the Federal Emergency Management Agency during President Obama’s administration. She then became commissioner of the New York City Emergency Management Department.
President Joe Biden nominated Criswell as FEMA administrator in February 2021. She was confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office by Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas in April 2021.
In the News…
The Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that they have sent additional teams to assist in state-led response efforts after Hurricane Helene devastated many parts of the Southeastern U.S.
Addressing the catastrophic damage sustained in North Carolina in particular, Administrator Deanne Criswell stated, “I don’t know that anybody could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding and landslides” the western parts of the state experienced.
Administrator Criswell said there has been “significant infrastructure damage to water systems, communication, roads, critical transportation routes… So this is going to be a really complicated recovery in each of these five states that have had these impacts.”
She said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to assist with water systems. The administrator said, “We absolutely have enough resources from across the federal family” to address the multi-state event.
“We will continue to bring those resources in to help them,” Criswell said. “We want to work with them to rebuild in a way that’s going to help make them more resilient and reduce the impacts from the increased number of storms that they’re experiencing.”
FEMA reported, “More than 4,500 personnel from across the federal workforce are deployed and more than 1,000 are from FEMA. To date, FEMA has shipped over 7.1. million meals, more than 6.5 million liters of water, 150 generators and more than 200,000 tarps to the region.“
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Administrator Criswell today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Deanne Criswell, Administrator
Federal Emergency Management Agency
500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024
