Release number: R4-05-107
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Hundreds of U.S.
Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
workers are leaning forward at pre-positioned locations throughout Florida,
Alabama and Mississippi and Georgia to assist disaster victims as quickly
as possible after Hurricane Dennis makes landfall along the Gulf coast.
More than 150 advance personnel from almost a dozen federal and volunteer agencies responsible for Emergency Support Functions under the National Response Plan, are working at the Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) in Atlanta.In addition, many of the FEMA employees involved with long-term recovery operations in Florida are standing by to help with activities related to Hurricane Dennis.
- More that 250 members of three Urban
Search and Rescue (US&R) and four Disaster Medical Assistance (DMAT)
and Medical Strike Teams (MST) are standing by at the Naval Air Station
in Meridian and in Jackson, Miss., for immediate deployment. These highly
trained, specialized teams will be ready to rapidly support local first
responders and provide critical services, if needed, after the hurricane
strikes. Three additional USAR teams with more than 125 members are in
route for pre-staging today.
- U.S. Forest Service Incident Management
Teams (IMT) have deployed to Tallahassee, Fla., and Atlanta, Ga., to manage
logistics staging areas.
- FEMA's Hurricane Liaison Team, made
up of representatives from FEMA, the National Weather Service and state
and local emergency officials, is providing state and local decision makers
with critical updates on storm conditions.\
- Approximately 200 semi-trailer trucks
loaded with essential supplies such as water, ice, meals ready-to-eat (MREs),
tarps and generators are in place at key staging areas in Florida, Georgia
and Alabama with other supplies in the pipeline for delivery.
- Additional truckloads of water and MREs
have been loaded and shipped from federal warehouse facilities at Palmetto,
Ga., and others staged to travel as soon as weather permits.
- Federal responders are co-located with their state emergency management agency counterparts evaluating the need for emergency supplies as Hurricane Dennis strengthens.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages the federal response and recovery efforts following an incident of national significance. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, workers with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.