William Brockmann Long (born April 6, 1975) is an American emergency manager who served as the Administrator of the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA). He was appointed to the position by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in April 2017 and confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in June 2017. He served until his resignation in March 2019, following criticism of his handling of the

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

and an ethical complaint over using official vehicles.

Education

Long grew up in

Newton, North Carolina Newton is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,968. It is the county seat of Catawba County. Newton is part of the Hickory, North Carolina, Hicko ...

, graduating from Newton-Conover High School. He received his B.S. in criminal justice and M.P.A. from

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...

. He also graduated from the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

's Executive Leadership Program at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

Career

Long was an emergency management official in Georgia, where he served as the Statewide Planner/School Safety Coordinator for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency from September 1999 to November 2001. He worked for the

as Hurricane Program Manager from November 2001 to January 2006. Long was the Southeast Regional Director for Beck Disaster Recovery from February 2007 to February 2008. Long headed the Alabama Emergency Management Agency from 2008 to 2011 under Governor

Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American retired politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the U.S. Hous ...

and developed the state's response to the H1N1 influenza. During the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill, he was the State Incident Commander for the Alabama Unified Command. In 2011, Long joined the emergency management consulting firm Hagerty Consulting, where he was executive vice president.

FEMA Administrator

President

nominated Long to be administrator of the

on April 28, 2017. On June 20, 2017, he was confirmed by the

with a vote of 95 to 4. In August 2017, Long faced the first major

natural disaster A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

of his tenure in the form of

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

. He stated that the hurricane would likely be recorded for Texas as "the worst disaster the state's seen," with the recovery period expected to take "many years." Weeks before, he had told interviewers that his biggest concern was major

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

preparedness. Long received widespread praise for his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Harvey. He was also criticized for his response to

. In September 2018, ''Politico'' reported that Long was under investigation by the FEMA inspector general because he allegedly used government vehicles to commute between Washington, D.C., and his home in

Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County, North Carolina, Catawba County. The List of municipalities in North Carolina, 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately northwest of Charlot ...

. ''Politico'' reported that Homeland Security Secretary

Kirstjen Nielsen Kirstjen Michele Nielsen (; born May 14, 1972) is an American attorney who served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019. She is a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, principal White House deputy chief of staff ...

, concerned about Long's frequent absences from Washington due to his regular six-hour drives between Washington and Hickory, asked Long to consider resigning his position, which Long declined to do. In February 2019, Long announced his resignation as FEMA Administrator, effective March 8, following questions over his use of his government vehicle. His deputy, Peter Gaynor, succeeded him as acting administrator.

Post-FEMA

Brock returned to Hagerty Consulting as an executive chairman in April 2019.

References

External links

Biography at FEMA
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Brock 1975 births Appalachian State University alumni Federal Emergency Management Agency officials Living people People from Hickory, North Carolina People from Newton, North Carolina First Trump administration personnel