Michael Hennigan is the Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security at Scott County’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA). He grew up in Buffalo, New York and moved to Scott County in 2000. When Hennigan moved to Kentucky, he started working in the transportation industry in Lexington where he was involved with a terrible bus crash that inspired him to begin volunteering with the Scott County EMA. He wanted to help to aid those who are affected by incidents like this on a larger scale. He started working at the EMA department in 2006.

The EMA department is in charge of planning and preparing for major incidents that would require several first responders. This could include natural disasters, major highway crashes, or anything that would require collaboration between several different emergency departments and agencies. The EMA will either get involved on scene directly working with the first responders or provide the resources to ensure the other emergency departments can assist in any major situations.

Hennigan is involved with disaster response, environmental impact and coordination between different agencies in the county. He says that his favorite part of the job is knowing that every day he will do something different; it is never the same thing twice. His 2020 goals for the department are to improve relations with other agencies, invest in improving his staff and those working with the EMA, and to maintain the safety of the community.