FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer for Region II, William “Bill” Vogel, after spending fifty weeks as the top FEMA employee in the territory coordinating multiple arms of a sprawling recovery effort in the wake of 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria, is heading out of the territory to lead another assignment, Government House made known in a release issued Wednesday.
Government House said Governor Kenneth Mapp and Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter presided over an informal farewell for Mr. Vogel, where Mr. Mapp is said to have thanked Mr. Vogel profusely for his work in helping the territory recovery. Mr. Mapp had affectionately referred to Mr. Vogel as “Big Bill” during recovery briefings.
Overcome with emotion, Mr. Vogel praised the people of the territory and the Mapp/Potter administration for opening their hearts and home to him and his team, along with the respect and admiration he had for the governor, Government House said.
The coordinating officer was presented with a cake adorned with his name and the FEMA logo, in addition to a handmade Madras shirt in remembrance of the time he spent in the territory, Government House said.
Mr. Vogel was replaced last week by Christopher Hartnett, best known for work in wake of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation on New Jersey. The federal coordinating officer for Region II covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, eight Tribal Nations and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to FEMA.
Tags: bill vogel, fema, usvi, William Vogel