Homeland Security Rolls Out Massive Response for Isabel's Arrival

Release Date: 09/17/03 00:00:00

FEMA prepositions items to respond to Hurricane Isabel

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 17, 2003

With Hurricane Isabel's 110 mile per hour winds only hours away from the U.S. mainland, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pre-positioned people and supplies for an unprecedented rapid emergency response to areas that may need immediate disaster relief once the Category 2 storm makes landfall.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of DHS emergency preparedness and response since March 1, is coordinating activities with other Federal departments and agencies and respective state agencies. FEMA announced it has met its goal to have necessary emergency response teams and disaster relief supplies positioned throughout the area by noon Wednesday in preparation for the anticipated response operations.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), also part of the DHS response team, has pre-positioned more than 30 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and has large numbers of boats and ships positioned in safe areas along the Atlantic Coast and inland to respond immediately to any call for assistance. The Coast Guard's C-130 long range aircraft continue to fly Hurricane Isabel's projected path warning ships to the storm's destructive winds.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and FEMA Director Michael Brown are maximizing the readiness and response efforts for Hurricane Isabel and maintaining close contact with governors in the states that could be impacted by this massive storm.

FEMA's Mobile Emergency Response Services communications units from as far away as the Denver, CO regional office have been mobilized to be in place prior to Isabel’s predicted Thursday landfall. These units in the past have provided telephone, radio and video links for hurricanes in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, typhoons in the South Pacific and were at Ground Zero for many months following the World Trade Center attacks.

FEMA has activated and deployed Medical Management Support Teams including MASH-type Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and Veterinary Medical Teams and has mobilized and pre-positioned the famed first-responder urban search and rescue teams for possible service.

Thirty semi-trailers containing cots and blankets, emergency meals, portable toilets, personal wash kits, sleeping bags, 6-8 person tents, plastic sheeting and roofing, bottled water and mid-range generators have been deployed to North Carolina, New Jersey and Ohio. An additional 10 trailers are ready to deploy to other locations, if needed. More than 150 large electrical generators are on site in North Carolina and New Jersey.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at FEMA's direction, has moved ice and water assets to Ft. Bragg, NC and pre-positioned their Corps Planning Response Teams to FEMA's Philadelphia and Atlanta Regional offices.

The Department of Defense is supporting FEMA's response effort with four military bases being used for mobilization and staging sites for response teams and supplies.

FEMA has directed the American Red Cross (ARC) to identify shelter locations and to deploy emergency response vehicles and two Red Cross kitchens with 10,000 meals-a-day capacity close to Isabel's predicted landfall location. Another 100 Red Cross emergency response vehicles are on stand-by in the surrounding states and ready for deployment to hard hit areas.

Homeland Security continues to ask East Coast residents in Hurricane Isabel's path to monitor radio and television broadcasts and follow the advice of local emergency managers. Secure residences, develop a family emergency plan and have the emergency kit stocked with food, water and a battery-powered radio with extra batteries. Be prepared for this potentially destructive storm.

DHS Deployment Team Map

DHS Prepositioned Initial Response

This page was last reviewed/modified on 09/17/03 00:00:00.