Story highlights Brock Long has only been on the job for a matter of months

He believes recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey could take "years"

Washington (CNN) The man responsible for coordinating the federal response to the damage done by Hurricane Harvey has only been on the job for two months.

President Donald Trump selected William "Brock" Long to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency in April, and he was confirmed by the Senate with a 95 to 4 vote nearly eight weeks later. But Long is battle-tested, with decades of experience in emergency management.

Though Long only recently became the FEMA administrator, he is no stranger to the agency. He served as a regional manager there during George W. Bush's administration before leading the Alabama Emergency Management Agency from 2008 to 2011, including during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

He most recently worked as the executive vice president for Hagerty Consulting , an emergency management firm based in Illinois.

The position of FEMA administrator is often a low-key role, but that can all change with one storm. Just ask Michael Brown , who was the face of the Bush administration's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Though Bush initially praised him for doing a "heck of a job," Brown later resigned in disgrace after many said the agency had underestimated the storm and mishandled its response to the crisis.

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