Darryl Madden « AdLibbing.org

Darryl Madden

Darryl Madden Darryl J. Madden is Director of Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Ready Campaign for Emergency Preparedness. Launched in February 2003, Ready is a national public service advertising campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters. The goal to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of resiliency and preparedness across the nation. Prior to assuming the leadership post in Ready he served in the agency’s Public Affairs Division as a Strategic Communications Specialist assigned to the Response and Recovery Directorate where he developed presentations on programs, policies, functions, and research related to the agency bureau focused to provide Federal disaster response capabilities needed to save lives, reduce suffering, and protect property in communities throughout the Nation overwhelmed by the impact of a presidentially-declared disasters. He returned to the public sector after serving several years as COO for the homeland security firm The Trident Group, Inc. and as Managing Director for its subsidiary Trident Communications. He was previously appointed both as the Director of Communications, Department of Public Safety and Corrections in Washington, DC and as the Special Assistant to the Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs in Baltimore. In these posts he oversaw media and government relations, marketing, outreach efforts and research teams, all with a focus on strengthening strategic partnerships. In 2005, he joined FEMA as a Disaster Assistance Employee and was deployed to New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita where through a succession of promotions was assigned to the agency’s Gulf Coast Recovery Office as Press Secretary and External Affairs Officer for the Deputy Associate Administrator. Darryl has served as a national spokesman for FEMA; as an instructor in crisis communications for the U.S. Department of Justice and worked on the 2005 Iraqi national election in the U.S. He is the former Chairman, Board of Directors, The Trident Group, Inc.; a member of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC); a member, National Organization of Information Officers (NOIA); a member of the Capitol Press Club of Washington D.C.; and is a member of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). He is a graduate of the University of Baltimore and studied public policy at The Pennsylvania State University. He is an avid boater and resides in Washington, DC with his two sons.

Posts by Darryl

Getting Ready for Hurricane Irene

Written by Darryl Madden | 4:02 pm August 26, 2011

As many of you already know, Hurricane Irene is a category 3 hurricane moving toward the East Coast of the United States, expected to make landfall this evening in North Carolina and continue its trajectory up the Eastern seaboard throughout the weekend. The Ready Campaign is urging all residents in East Coast states to take steps now to prepare their families and businesses for hurricanes and severe weather.

For more forecast information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Hurricane Center, click here.

I encourage everyone to visit Ready.gov or Listo.gov and take steps now to keep their family safe and secure. The most important thing for people to do right now is to listen to and follow the instructions of their local officials. If you are told to evacuate, evacuate. If you are not in an evacuation route, stay home.

Now is the time. If you haven’t already, to get your plan together for what you and your family would do if a hurricane or other disaster strikes and assemble the emergency kit items you would need should severe weather cause extended power outages, flooding or other conditions.

You can also get information about how to prepare for and recover from hurricanes and other disasters on your mobile devices by downloading the FEMA Smartphone App today in the Android market, and look for FEMA App for Blackberry version 6 devices and iPhones in the coming weeks.

In addition, our text message updates will allow all cell phone users to receive text message updates from FEMA.

Text PREPARE to 43362 (4FEMA) to sign up to receive monthly disaster safety tips
Text SHELTER + your ZIP code to 43362 (4FEMA) to find the nearest shelter in your area (example: shelter 12345)
(For availability of shelters and services, contact your local emergency management agency.
Text DRC + your ZIP code to 43362 (4FEMA) to find the nearest disaster recovery center in your area (for example, if you lived in Annandale, Virginia with a Zip Code of 22003, you’d text DRC 22003).

The Ready Campaign encourages everyone, regardless of whether they live in a hurricane-prone area, to take steps to ensure their families, homes and businesses are prepared for a possible emergency. As a reminder, the month of September is designated as National Preparedness Month (NPM), an opportunity to encourage Americans to be prepared for disasters or emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. Individuals and families can learn about events and activities, and groups can register to become a NPM Coalition Member by visiting http://community.fema.gov. NPM is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council.