Presidents, governors, mayors, fire departments, media outlets, and disaster responders have contacted Mark Neveau for his vast expertise as an emergency management consultant, media commentator, and public speaker.
Here are a list of his most Frequenty Asked Questions and the corresponding answers.
Hurricane Sandy. This was the most devastating disaster to affect a highly populated area–– Manhattan. It was also the longest electrical blackout in the continental U.S. Recovery and response were compounded by a freezing snow storm five days after the hurricane destroyed homes and business with a contested Presidential election looming in a few weeks.
He has commanded emergencies at all levels of government, from leading a strike team of fire fighters to battle wildfires in Southern California to managing Presidential Disaster across our nation.
He has also spoken extensively in 2018 and 2017 about the Chico Camp Fire, recent Southern California / Malibu Fires, and the Santa Rosa Firestorm.
He is the only FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer in history to manage emergency incidents at
the local, state and federal level. His experience in organizations, media, politics, and executive
decision making has supported his maturation.
While employed by FEMA, these included:
- Director Hurricane Sandy – Long Island, New York, 2012
- Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Disaster Declaration––Michigan Flooding, 2013
- Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Disaster Declaration––Navajo Nation, 2013
- Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Emergency Declaration––Minnesota Flash Flooding,
2012 - Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Emergency Declaration––7 disasters: snow/flooding,
2011 - Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Emergency Declaration & Major Disaster Declaration––
Arizona Severe Snow, 2010 - Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Disaster Declaration––Arizona Severe Snow, 2010
- Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Disaster Declaration––Georgia Flooding, 2009
- Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Disaster Declaration––California Wildfires, 2008
- Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer—Major Disaster Declaration––Hurricane Ike, 2007
For MAN Ventures:
- Hurricane Maria: working as a Governor’s Authorized Representative
- As a News Media Commentator:
- 2017 Hurricane Irma – Puerto Rico
- 2017 Hurricane Harvey – Houston, TX
- 2018 Hurricane Florence – Florida
- 2017 Tubbs Fire, Santa Rosa Firestorm
- 2018 Jacksonville Mass Shooting at E Game Convention
The biggest discovery has been understanding that, in the end, all disasters are local. We must remember that we are not just talking about esoteric things and operations; we are affecting people’s lives, families, and livelihood.
Media Commentator FAQs
Mark has principally be interviewed on Fox News, KTVU, Channel 2 (San Francisco – Oakland).
Other stations in other markets include:
- South Dakota
- Atlanta, GA
- Phoenix and Tucson, AZ
- Grand Rapids, MI
- And Los Angeles, CA.
Typically, these are:
- Hourly during response operations.
- During recovery operations, it is frequent and varied.
From California to Florida, Mr. Neveau is a highly entertaining, dynamic, and informative speaker.
Recent speeches have included:
- 2018, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA – Employee Emergency Team Keynote.
- 2017, Building Officials Association of Florida Keynote in Daytona, Florida, September. (See separate question about “Predictions”.)
- 2015, Golden Gate University. San Francisco Chinese Delegation Emergency Management.
- 2015, San Francisco Planning Commission––Testified upon behalf Golden State Warriors / Chase Center Development.
- 2015, San Francisco Port Commission––Testified upon behalf Golden State Warriors / Chase Center Development.
- 2013, Kaiser Permanente Medical – Business Emergency Response Team Keynote.
- 2013, “The Continuing Challenge” Keynote––How to manage critical emergencies.
- 2013, Rotary Club, Alamo, CA: Hurricane Sandy.
- 2009, Rotary Club Atlanta, GA: Deadly flooding in Atlanta.
- 2009, California Senate––Subcommittee––Mobile home fire safety.
- 2009, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Ca – 2007 Wild fires which destroyed a record number of homes
- 2005, Alameda County Grand Jury––Subject Matter Expert, Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Mark’s fee is $10,000 per keynote address, which includes a 1-hour presentation and 1-hour post presentation discussions, plus 5 hours of prep time: interviewing organizational leaders, reviewing your culture of organization.
His speaking topics include:
– Natural disasters and recovery efforts he has managed.
– Executive decision making.
– Media relations for your organization.
– How to work through cultural abnormalities and thrive.
– “HOPE” as a tool to drive your organization.
Presidential Orders FAQs
Here is an example of a Presidential Order that requested the participation of Mark Neveau … After massive flooding between April 16 and May 14, 2013 in the State of Michigan, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid had been made available to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the affected area
The President’s action made federal funding available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by flooding in Allegan, Baraga, Barry, Gogebic, Houghton, Ionia, Kent, Keweenaw, Marquette, Midland, Muskegon, Newaygo, Ontonagon, Osceola, Ottawa, and Saginaw counties. Federal funding was also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Mark A. Neveau was named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Neveau said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
Projections FAQs
Below is a list of lucky hunches, extrapolations and experience where Mark Neveau was able to share information about a subject prior to the events transpiring.
1. Hurricane Irma, September 2017:
- His keynote address to Building Officials Association of Florida in March 2017 about how to react to a Category
- 4 hurricane; months later, Hurricane Irma struck Florida.
The last Category 4 hurricane to strike Florida was in 2004.
2. Hurricane Maria, September 2017:
- He predicted that hitting Puerto Rico as a Category 5 hurricane two weeks after Irma would be devastating, while most of the national media focused on Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston. WATCH TV INTERVIEW.
3. Jacksonville Mass Shooting at E Sports Convention, August 2018:
- 2-minute response time by Fire Department and the danger of its arrival; the JFFR sent truck that happened to be training nearby, Mark spoke about the response time that day; over next few days, the rest of the media
started to report on it. This generated interviews with Fire Department responders on news,
too.
4. Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) released report, (Month, Year?):
- It addressed the wildland fire threat in the San Francisco Bay Area, which focused on a 15%
very high fire danger. Mr. Neveau shared how the rest of the Bay Area was actually in the 65% high hazard zone.
5. KTVU Wildland Fire Special Report: Camp Fire, November 2018:
- Mark shared how the state was approaching an all-time firefighting cost expenditure close to a billion dollars. Then, the Camp Fire ensued as the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history, and the costliest disaster in 2018, so we, in fact, did reach that number. WATCH TV INTERVIEW.
6. Federal Government Shutdown Impact on Workers, January 2019:
- The Thrift Saving Plan (Federal employees’ retirement plan) lost principal, a news article on 1/2/2019 appeared after a TV news appearance.
- Mr. Neveau predicted that federal employees would not be given a raise in 2019, which has transpired to date.