New FEMA Head to Address International Assembly at CU's Natural Hazards Workshop July 16

July 8, 2009

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate

The new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will speak to an international gathering of about 400 people who deal with disasters at the annual workshop of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Natural Hazards Center on July 16.

Craig Fugate will speak from 9:15 to 10 a.m. at the Omni Hotel in Broomfield. The 34th annual workshop, held July 15-18, brings together emergency managers, insurers, government officials and academic experts who work to prepare for, prevent or respond to extreme events such as hurricanes, great earthquakes and wildfires. The workshop is not open to the public.

Fugate was appointed the administrator of FEMA in May. He previously served as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, where he was the coordinating officer during 11 presidential disaster declarations. In 2004, he managed the largest federal disaster response in Florida history as four hurricanes hit the state in quick succession.

Following his talk, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, a plenary panel will address the increasing risk of disaster as cities sprawl into fire-prone areas titled "Geographies of Urban Disaster: Developed Country Wildfire Risk Management in a Warmer World." A majority of the panelists will be from Australia, where February's devastating wildfires killed more than 200 people.

Other sessions include an examination of last year's earthquake preparedness drill in Southern California, "The Great Southern California ShakeOut," that involved more than 5 million people; a showing of the documentary film "Black Wave: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez" followed by a panel discussion; and a talk by James Lopez, a senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who will discuss how sustainable communities are climate-resilient communities.

Panelists in the conference's closing plenary session, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on July 18, will address "Hurricane Katrina and the Catastrophes to Come."

The Natural Hazards Center, part of CU-Boulder's Institute of Behavioral Science, is funded by a consortium of agencies including the National Science Foundation and FEMA. For more information, visit the center's Web site at www.colorado.edu/hazards.

-CU-

Contact

Kathleen Tierney, Natural Hazards Center, 303-492-6818
Ezekiel Peters, Natural Hazards Center, 303-492-2149
Peter Caughey, CU-Boulder media relations, 303-492-4007

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