Escambia County Emergency Management unfazed despite FEMA's leadership changes
ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — Despite hurricane season quickly approaching, emergency officials in Escambia County are taking the firing of acting Federal Emergency Management Agency's head Cameron Hamilton in stride.
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'It really doesn't mean anything,' Escambia County Emergency Manager Travis Tompkins said. 'Every administration that comes in, normally, a president chooses a new FEMA executive, especially from one party to another, those changes are very common.'
The county will continue to communicate directly with the state during major storms.
'Regardless of who's in charge at FEMA, we go to the state for our resources request that we have, and then if they can't fulfill those requests, then they have to reach out to the federal government in FEMA, but we've not had any issues,' said Tompkins.
Maintaining a good relationship with the state is the top priority for Escambia County's Emergency Management Agency.
'They meet all our needs that we ever have, and we try to do the same for them,' added Tompkins.
Last year, that included deploying three times after hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton, which hit other parts of the state.
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Tompkins wants to remind folks to ensure storm warnings are toggled on in settings on hand-held devices. A step-by-step video can be found on Escambia County's EMA page here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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