We Are FEMA: Mark Petitt

In 2013, Colorado was facing the largest floods it had seen in
over 30 years. That year, FEMA hired Mark Petitt to support the
disaster declaration. �Mark is now a Disaster Recovery Specialist,
Public Assistance Tribal Specialist for FEMA Region 8.

Mark has supported many disasters since then. He said a
highlight for him was building a rapport and partnership with the
five tribes he worked with in 2019. That year, he was deployed to
support FEMA response to a bomb cyclone and the rapid melting and
flooding incident that followed. Mark stayed in South Dakota
through the end of the year to complete preliminary damage
assessments and run the Tribal Task Force.

In that time, five tribes had Public Assistance Program
declarations under at least one of five presidential declarations.
Most had never been a recipient of the program before. Mark
supported the process to get each tribe’s administrative plans
and financial pieces put together. As he guided tribes through the
process, he would first learn which activities were done in
response to the disaster and what emergency protective measures
were already in place. He then worked to understand what each tribe
would need to do to recover.

“The big pieces of the Public Assistance Program can be
challenging,†Mark says. “It’s taking all the information and
always trying to reach the ‘Yes, it works!’ goal. But you
can’t always get there.†Sometimes Mark had to explain why a
declaration wasn’t fit for Public Assistance. In those
situations, exercising FEMA’s values of compassion, integrity,
fairness and respect were key. Mark said he tries to treat every
one of the applicants, every one of the tribes, the same. He would
educate and explain the situation, and where possible, share other
potential funding sources with the tribes.

Mark said being able to talk to tribal leadership and help them
understand the process was a rewarding part of the process. He said
part of being a FEMA employee can sometimes mean just listening to
concerns.

“You’re working with people that are under high stress, and
they’ve been under high stress for a while,†Mark said. “Some
of the conversations I’ve had with tribal emergency managers over
the last year has been just having them dump whatever stress
they’ve been carrying in their head.â€

The We Are FEMA campaign highlights employees like Mark
and takes a deeper look at the work they do to make our nation
safer, stronger and more prepared. The campaign allows others to
learn more about the mission-driven work and the who, what and why
behind the FEMA mission. The faces of FEMA are diverse, but they
share the same goal: to help people before, during and after
disaster. 

To join our team, visit FEMA.gov/careers to
see the latest job openings.