Sidney Melton Named Director For FEMA's Mississippi Office 

Release Date: July 3, 2007
Release Number: 1604-563

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BILOXI, Miss. -- Sidney Melton has been named director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Mississippi Transitional Recovery Office (TRO). As director, Melton will have overall responsibility for federal recovery activities in Mississippi and lead a staff of nearly 1,000 people.

FEMA Administrator David Paulison introduced Melton as Director of FEMA’s Mississippi TRO during a recent employee meeting in Biloxi. He assumes the position from Dennis Kizziah, who had been serving as acting director since April 2007. Kizziah will join the staff of FEMA’s Gulf Coast Recovery Office in New Orleans.

"I am extremely proud to lead this organization as we continue to support Mississippi," said Melton. "While we have made tremendous strides with our state and local partners, we know many challenges lie ahead. But with the dedicated staff assembled here, we’re ready to face those challenges head-on."

A familiar face in the recovery effort, Melton was the Individual Assistance(IA) section chief in FEMA’s Mississippi TRO from July 2006 to March 2007. In March, Gil Jamieson, Associate Deputy Administrator for Gulf Coast Recovery, assigned Melton to the position of IA section chief for FEMA’s Louisiana TRO.

Melton started his FEMA career in November 2004 during the response to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in Florida. Under his leadership as mobile home operations chief, more than 17,000 individuals and families received temporary housing.

In September 2005, during the initial response to Hurricane Katrina, Melton was deployed to Mississippi to launch the largest disaster housing operation in FEMA history. He served as FEMA’s Direct Housing Operation supervisor until he became the IA section chief.

Prior to joining FEMA, Melton served as an U.S. Army officer for 20 years, in a variety of command and staff positions.He culminated his career with an assignment at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., where he acted as the communications program manager for the Special Operations Command.Melton, who was also stationed in Hawaii, Germany and South Korea, was charged with ensuring that the elite Special Forces units had the latest in communications technology to enhance mission success.

Melton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in radio/television from Arkansas State University.

FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, economic status or retaliation. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, you should call FEMA toll-free at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or contact your State Office of Equal rights. If suspicious of any abuse of FEMA programs, please contact the fraud hotline at 1-800-323-8603.

Last Modified: Tuesday, 03-Jul-2007 14:45:12