Butch Kinerney is Chief of Communications for the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration 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) and an expert in risk and crisis communications. He served as acting press secretary for FEMA in 2005–2006, rising to the position immediately following landfall of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

in 2005. During Katrina and the ongoing recovery in the Gulf Coast, he was quoted more than 30,000 times in the press, from Katrina's first landfall in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

throughout the tumultuous fallout from FEMA's response efforts in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. He is noted speaker on risk and crisis communications. In addition, Kinerney is a volunteer fire fighter with the Arcola-Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department in Loudoun County, VA, and counsels incarcerated youths through Epiphany Ministry. Prior to his appointment as acting press secretary, Kinerney was the public affairs liaison to FEMA's Mitigation Division, the National Flood Insurance Program and the

U.S. Fire Administration The United States Fire Administration (USFA) is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) located in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Emmitsburg. Per the official website, "the mission of the U.S. Fire Administr ...

. He joined FEMA in 2004, prior to four hurricanes striking

. Before joining FEMA, Butch spent five years as a public affairs specialist at the

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movem ...

, where he worked directly with the USGS Water Resources Division and the USGS hazards program which included

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

, wildfires,

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

and

landslides Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

. Kinerney worked as the Chief of Public Information for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and as a Community Relations Officer for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. He was a newspaper and magazine reporter/writer/editor before beginning his government career. A 1990 graduate of the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, Kinerney has a degree in news-editorial journalism. He currently resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinerney, Butch 1968 births Federal Emergency Management Agency officials Living people University of Maryland, College Park alumni