CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County is hiring for an emergency management coordinator.
Melissa Munguia, who has held the position since November 2018, announced she would be leaving last week.
Munguia says she is leaving for health reasons and so that she can put her family first.
"It's a difficult job and there's a lot of responsibility," Munguia said. "But I also have a new responsibility as a mother, and for myself, and that's where I made the decision that where we're at in the pandemic response, the expectation for the continued amount of time we'll be responding to the pandemic. And what I really need for my life and what my child needs from me."
Munguia has helped lead the county through several disaster responses, including Winter Storm Uri, Hurricane Hanna and several waves of COVID-19, which she says each seemed to be a separate disaster.
"To us and those that are responding to this it feels like we've had 10 or 11 disasters this year," she said.
Munguia added that it's important for first responders to know when it is time to take a step back and realize it is time to care for themselves.
"I'm going to give myself a break," Munguia said. "I'm going to restore myself and come back at this, maybe in another fashion. I'm not going anywhere. I just need to recollect myself."
While her last day is Sept. 1, Munguia says she is willing to stay on to train the new emergency management coordinator or provide whatever the county needs in the transition.