Emergency administrator Beginning in 1987, he served for 10 years as an emergency manager for Alachua County before moving up to the state level as deputy director for the Florida Emergency Management Division and then became director in 2001 under Florida Republican governor
Jeb Bush. He was awarded the National Guard Association of Florida Hall of Fame in 2006. His nomination received bi-partisan support in Congress although Louisiana senator Republican
David Vitter threatened to hold up his nomination until his concerns over the handling of Hurricane Katrina by Brown were answered by FEMA. In 2010, as director of FEMA, he oversaw a record of eighty-one disaster declarations and superseded that record in 2011 with eighty-seven. He was criticized in 2012 by Brown for his early response to
Hurricane Sandy in which he positioned recovery resources prior to the storm's arrival. In response, Fugate said that he "emphasized the importance of strong building codes and risk management before disasters strike". Fugate told
The New York Times that, "Waffle House has a very simple operation philosophy: get open."
Thunderbolt exercises As administrator, Fugate instituted "thunderbolt exercises" into FEMA's preparations. He led the effort to develop smart phone apps allowing users to report disasters with photos and use
GPS to identify the location. ==Personal life==