TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supported the recovery efforts for Superstorm Sandy by deploying several employees to multiple locations in the United States to assist in the mission.
The Tulsa USACE Power Planning and Response Team, consisting of 16 employees, deployed Oct. 31 in support of the Temporary Power Mission Assignment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The team worked with other Temporary Emergency Power assets to provide support to areas impacted by the storm.
The Tulsa Power Team initially was sent to Cleveland, Ohio to assist citizens of the city and surrounding areas. When that mission was complete, the team was moved to Queens, NY to aid communities there that were devastated by high winds and severe flooding from Sandy. Residents, businesses and emergency facilities there were left without power in the wake of the storm. An initial staging base of generators was established at Citifield ballpark to facilitate the distribution of generators to various lifesaving, life supporting and other critical facilities.
In addition to the Power Team, Tulsa District deployed other employees to support the disaster recovery mission. Emergency Operations Center Chief Bill Smiley deployed to New Jersey and Emergency Management Specialist Kerri Stark deployed to the National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. as subject matter experts. Tulsa Deputy Commander Maj. Don Nestor deployed to U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) (ARNORTH) headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, Capt. Corey Burns deployed to USACE Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and Tulsa District Commander Col. Michael Teague deployed to New Jersey.
The Corps is prepared and ready to respond to natural and man-made disasters and overseas contingencies. When disasters occur, USACE teams and other resources are mobilized from across the country to assist our local districts and offices to deliver our response missions. USACE has more than 40 specially trained response teams ready to perform a wide range of public works and engineering-related missions. USACE uses pre-awarded contracts that can be quickly activated for missions such as debris removal, temporary roofing, water and commodities distribution, and generator installation.
In any disaster, USACE’s three top priorities are to support immediate emergency response priorities, sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs, and initiate recovery efforts by assessing and restoring critical infrastructure.