Augusta has its first separate Emergency Management Agency director in more than two decades, and she says her experience here after Hurricane Helene made her want to return.
Scottsdale, Ariz. native Kymber Keaton was the top choice of Mayor Garnett Johnson after interviews with several qualified candidates, the city said in a statement Wednesday.
“This community made a lasting impression on me during Hurricane Helene, and the resilience I witnessed here stayed with me,” Keaton said. “When the opportunity to join Augusta arose, it felt like the right place to contribute and lead.”
Keaton has nearly 10 years of experience in emergency management, disaster response and homeland security across local, state, federal, tribal and international operations.
The city said her resume includes work with three presidential administrations, FEMA, the U.S. Secret Service and the National Park Service, along with national and international disaster relief efforts with Team Rubicon and Volunteer Nepal.
“I am excited to begin my service with Augusta-Richmond County,” she said. “My focus now is to enhance preparedness and ensure every resident feels informed, supported and ready for any emergency.”
Keaton served five years and five months in the Air Force as a bioenvironmental engineer. She spent a year with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services as a tribal emergency service coordinator and most recently, worked two years and three months in the White House Operations Center.
The city said she “played key roles” in planning, training and recovery for major emergency events including COVID-19, wildfires, earthquakes, severe storms, flooding and civil disturbances.
Keaton holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in emergency management and has completed advanced emergency response and disaster risk training through FEMA, the Smithsonian and ICCROM, the international center for the preservation and restoration of cultural property.
Her official title is emergency management director. State law requires each county to have one, typically designated by the mayor. From 2002 until now Augusta’s fire chief has held the dual role.
The last stand-alone EMA director was Dave Dlugolenski, who resigned in 2002 after serving about three years after being hired to replace Pam Tucker when she left in 1999.
In the wake of Helene, Mayor Garnett Johnson and several commissioners began calling for Augusta to have a full-time EMA director to conduct year-round planning and preparation for disasters.
