By WNCN | April 16, 2021 at 4:16 PM EDT – Updated April 16 at 4:16 PM
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)– After 8 years as the director of Emergency Management, Mike Sprayberry is set to retire.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Sprayberry will retire on August 1.
He was appointed to be the executive director of the N.C. Division of Emergency Management (NCEM) and the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) in February of 2013.
Sprayberry has served as the division’s seventh director and will retire with more than 42 years of state service, NCDPS said.
“Mike Sprayberry has served our state with distinction, keeping North Carolinians safe through unprecedented natural disasters and a global pandemic,” Governor Roy Cooper said. “Director Sprayberry has worked to make our state more resilient and prepared than ever to withstand future storms and emergencies and overcome challenges. He has set a high bar, leading North Carolina Emergency Management with his daily refrain of ‘One team, one mission, one family,’ and I deeply appreciate his service.”
Sprayberry is the state’s longest serving emergency management director. He led the State Emergency Response Team in its response and recovery efforts for 19 state declared disasters and 11 federally declared disasters, to include Hurricane Florence, now known as North Carolina’s “Storm of Record.”
In 2015, Sprayberry briefed President Obama at the National Hurricane Center on the state’s hurricane readiness, a press release said.
“This has been the most satisfying opportunity of my career. It has been an incredible honor to serve the people of North Carolina throughout the years facing many hazards and threats together, to include over a year of responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It’s now time to enter the next phase of my life with my family who has provided me with such great love and support,” said Sprayberry. “I have enjoyed working alongside outstanding professionals, including both the agencies I have had the privilege of leading as well as our local, state, federal, volunteer and private sector partners. They are responsible for our successes and I am so thankful for all of them. I am especially appreciative of our local county partners who have always been there for us. Our motto remains to always ask ourselves each day, “What have you done for the counties today?”
Sprayberry is a native of Charlotte. He was sworn in as the deputy director of Emergency Management in 2005 after serving as a member of the N.C. National Guard. Before he became a national guardsmen, he was a Marine in the United States marine Corps.
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