Louisiana Emergency Personnel Deploy for Hurricane Florence Missions
Baton Rouge (September 11, 2018) – Nearly one hundred Louisiana emergency personnel are deploying to the Carolinas as part of four teams to help with Hurricane Florence support missions. The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) is coordinating the assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) system. EMAC offers assistance during governor-declared states of emergency or disasters through a responsive, straightforward system that allows states to send personnel, equipment, and commodities to assist with response and recovery efforts in other states.
The teams currently being deployed include a four person, emergency operations center support team from the New Orleans Fire Department assisting North Carolina. The Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal is providing a swift water rescue team and an urban search and rescue team to South Carolina. Each teams includes 36 personnel. The office is also providing an 18 person, incident support team. The teams are scheduled to start arriving in the region Tuesday.
“In addition to the teams currently being deployed, other state agencies are also working to fill additional requests from states in Florence’s path. Louisiana is often called upon to help other states during an emergency because of our experience in dealing with disasters and because of our ability to efficiently manage EMAC requests,” said GOHSEP Director Jim Waskom. “We are monitoring several tropical threats as we reach the peak of hurricane season. We urge everyone to stay aware of these threats for any potential impact to Louisiana. Keep your emergency supply kits stocked and your emergency plans up to date.”
Louisiana State Fire Marshal Butch Browning added, “Louisiana has received an outpouring of assistance for our emergencies in the past. So the call to return the favor to South Carolina now is a very important one for us to answer. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is sending over rescue equipment along with personnel who are experts in the field with hundreds of hours of real-time disaster response experience. We hope to be as great an impact to our friends in South Carolina as others have been to us in our times of need.”
EMAC establishes a firm legal foundation for sharing resources between states. Once the conditions for providing assistance to a requesting state have been set, the terms constitute a legally binding agreement. The EMAC legislation solves the problems of liability and responsibilities of cost and allows for credentials, licenses, and certifications to be honoured across state lines.
EMAC is implemented within the State Emergency Management Agency on behalf of the Governor of the State. This provides a consistent and coordinated response across the nation.
Deploying resources through EMAC leverages federal grant dollars (such as the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) and the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) invested in state and local emergency management resource capabilities.
Find more tips on weather and preparedness on GOHSEP’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Listen to conversations on all aspects of emergency management by downloading GOHSEP’s The Get A Game Plan Podcast. You can receive emergency alerts on most smartphones and tablets by downloading the new Alert FM App. It is free for basic service. The Get A Game Plan App is another resource available to help you and your family prepare for any type of emergency. You can download the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Guide and find other information at www.getagameplan.org.