10/16/2026
GHC Board of Directors mourns the loss of William "Billy" Wagner. We send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
Former Monroe County Emergency Management Director Billy Wagner, right, and former National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield confer as Hurricane Katrina sets its sights on the Gulf Coast. /
ANDYNEWMAN
KEY WEST, Fla. — William “Billy” Wagner Jr., the longtime Monroe County emergency management director who helped guide the Florida Keys through decades of hurricane threats, died Thursday morning after a prolonged illness, longtime Keys public relations booster Andy Newman told Above the Fold. He was 91.
Wagner died at a care facility in Rome, Georgia, Newman said.
His passing was first reported on social media by Mandy Miles’ Keys Weekly.
“I worked closely with Billy from 1998 through 2015 and learned more about emergency management and the national hurricane warning system than I ever wanted to,” Newman told Above the Fold.
Their work helped connect emergency planning with the tourism industry in an island chain where hurricane decisions affect residents, visitors and businesses.
“Our relationship resulted in an innovative and pioneering cooperative effort between emergency management and the Florida Keys tourism industry,” Newman said.
The relentless hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 brought the two especially close.
“During the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons — four storms each year — I spent more time with Billy than I did my wife,” Newman told Above the Fold.
“Billy cared so much about people and was an incredible character with SO MUCH character.”
Wagner gives the end of hurricane season a little boost during the Paradise and Pirates festival on Nov. 30, 2005. Unusually high winds made the accelerant necessary. The ceremony became an annual ritual marking the end of hurricane season. /
Known as “Mr. Hurricane,” Wagner served as Monroe County’s emergency management director for 25 years. His roughly 40-year public safety career also included service as a firefighter and fire chief, according to a 2025 account published by the Keys Weekly.
In the early 1980s, he worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on a regional hurricane evacuation study and plan covering Southeast Florida, including the Keys.
He retired in 2006 after coordinating responses to numerous tropical storms and hurricanes.
His work addressed the challenges of preparing an island chain for dangerous weather while coordinating local emergency decisions with national forecasts and warnings.
Lifetime Achievement Recognition
Wagner received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference in West Palm Beach on May 15, 2025.
His sons, William Wagner III and Karl Wagner, accepted the award on his behalf. Former National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield attended in support.
The recognition honored Wagner’s contributions to hurricane preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation at the local, state and national levels.
