State-Managed Disasters: An Interview with Arizona's Director of Emergency Management

DISASTERRECOVERYTODAY.COM

Wendy Smith-Reeve

Arizona Department of Emergency & Military Affairs (DEMA) Director, DEMA Division of Emergency Management

Wendy Smith-Reeve joined the agency in September 1996, hired to oversee finance and administration for the recovery office, primarily remedying all the payments processed and the administrative actions associated with the 1993 flood. That flood had an impact of $150 million dollars in eligible infrastructure damage in Arizona and at the same time the state had several other state-only declared disasters with which they were dealing. Reeve was progressively promoted to Deputy of Public Assistance, then oversight for the Public Assistance Program. She was subsequently promoted to Assistant Director for Arizona’s Recovery Division, and in 2013 was elevated into the position of Director for the Division of Emergency Management at the Department of Emergency & Military Affairs.

Dan Craig

Tidal Basin’s Senior Vice President

Daniel Craig has extensive experience in the disaster consulting and post- disaster recovery industries. He is the founder and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Tidal Basin. He has worked tirelessly with state and local governments and not-for-profits, helping themmeet their recovery needs by providing experienced disaster recovery staff and proven grant management processes.

Dan also served as Director of the Recovery Division for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. He was appointed by President Bush in 2003 and was responsible for overseeing the federal government’s recovery efforts on all presidentially declared events including the Space Shuttle Columbia crash, the wildfires of 2003 and the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.

Before becoming the Director of the Recovery Division at FEMA, Dan was the Regional Director for the New England area (Region I), where he was responsible for all FEMA mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, and training activities in the six New England states region.


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