Peter Brown | |
---|---|
Special Representative for Puerto Rico's Disaster Recovery | |
In office February 7, 2020 –January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
9th United States Homeland Security Advisor | |
In office July 12,2019 –February 7,2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Doug Fears |
Succeeded by | Julia Nesheiwat |
Personal details | |
Born | Peter James Rogan October 28,1963 New York,New York,U.S. |
Education | United States Coast Guard Academy (BS) University of Miami (MS) University of Connecticut (JD) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Coast Guard |
Years of service | 1985–2021 |
Rank | Rear Admiral |
Peter James Brown (born Peter James Rogan;October 28,1963) [1] is a retired United States Coast Guard rear admiral,who served as the Special Representative for Puerto Rico's Disaster Recovery. He previously served as the ninth Homeland Security Advisor in the Trump Administration. [2]
Brown was born in New York City [1] and raised in Somers,New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the United States Coast Guard Academy in May 1985,followed by a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Miami in May 1991 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law in May 1995. [1] [3]
Prior to serving in the United States Department of Homeland Security,Brown was a commander of the Coast Guard's Seventh District in Miami. [4]
In September 2019,Brown was active in advising President Trump during Hurricane Dorian,accompanying him to Camp David to provide status updates during the storm. [5] [6] [7] During the Hurricane Dorian–Alabama controversy,Brown defended Trump in several statements,stating that he had briefed the president on models in which Dorian would make landfall in Alabama. [6] [8]
On February 7,2020,it was announced that Brown would become Trump's Special Representative for Puerto Rico's Disaster Recovery,coordinating Puerto Rico’s continuing recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria and the recent 2020 Puerto Rico earthquakes. [9] [10]
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 Executive Orders on April 1,1979. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The only exception to the state's gubernatorial declaration requirement occurs when an emergency or disaster takes place on federal property or to a federal asset—for example,the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,Oklahoma,or the Space Shuttle Columbia in the 2003 return-flight disaster.
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Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated 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 deadliest and costliest hurricane to strike the island of Puerto Rico,and is the deadliest hurricane to strike the country of Dominica and the U.S. Virgin Islands territory.
From September 19-21,2017,Hurricane Maria devastated the entire island of Puerto Rico and caused a major humanitarian crisis. Originally,a powerful Category 5 hurricane,Maria was the strongest storm to impact the island in nearly 90 years. Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico on September 20 as a high-end Category 4 storm,bringing a large storm surge,very heavy rains,and wind gusts well above 100 mph (160 km/h). It flattened neighborhoods,crippled the island's power grid,and caused an estimated 2,982 fatalities and US$90 billion in damage.
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Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico as a high-end Category 4 hurricane on September 20,2017,resulting in the island's most severe natural disaster in modern history. The entire island suffered devastating effects with the entire population losing access to electricity,the majority losing access to clean water,tens of thousands of homes destroyed,and road infrastructure left crippled. A series of cascading infrastructure failures compounded the direct effects of the hurricane. Lack of aid,electricity,water,and access to medical care endangered many people;elderly and poor residents were most impacted.
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The Hurricane Dorian–Alabama controversy,also referred to as Sharpiegate,arose from a comment made by then U.S. President Donald Trump on September 1,2019,as Hurricane Dorian approached the U.S. mainland. Mentioning states that would likely be impacted by the storm,he incorrectly included Alabama,which by then was known not to be under threat from the storm. After many residents of Alabama called the local weather bureau to ask about it,the bureau issued a reassurance that Alabama was not expected to be hit by the storm.
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