4,000 strong: The Federal storm response
President Donald J. Trump and senior officials are monitoring multiple storms this week, including Florence, Olivia, Mangkut, and Isaac. The Administration began putting precautionary measures in place for these weather events before Labor Day.
More than 4,000 Federal employees, including more than 1,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are working around the clock in response to these storms. Federal teams have been deployed across the Southeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic regions, including:
- 2 Army Corps of Engineers teams in the Carolinas and Virginia to help plan for debris removal and temporary power support
- 5 Department of Health and Human Services Disaster Medical Assistance teams in the Carolinas, Maryland, and Virginia
- 7 FEMA Incident Management Assistance teams
- 16 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams, including swift water rescue task forces
- Coast Guard personnel positioned in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia to quickly mobilize in support of search-and-rescue efforts
The private sector is the first source for goods in affected areas, and if those supplies are exhausted, State, local, and volunteer agencies step in to provide additional assistance. Among the resources already in place are more than 11 million meals, 18 million liters of water, 60,000 cots, and 1 million blankets.
It is the job of the Federal Government to support these parties any way it can. FEMA has more than two dozen Incident Support Bases, Distribution Centers, and other sites with life-saving supplies throughout the East Coast, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands. FEMA National and Regional Response Coordination Centers have also been activated to coordinate with local actors.
“The safety of American people is my absolute highest priority,” President Trump said this week. “We are sparing no expense.”
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Photo of the Day
Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian
President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are briefed on Hurricane Florence by Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen | September 13, 2018
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