Hurricane Update: September 16, 2008

Approximately 512 Forest Service employees are supporting FEMA in a broad range of hurricane response activities. Fourteen sawyer crews stand ready to provide expert chainsaw services to clear roads of downed trees and limbs. Five Incident Management Teams are supporting FEMA and the Texas Forest Service from several locations, including Beaumont and College Station, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi. Forest Service personnel are also working directly with FEMA in Mass Care Planning at the National Resource Coordination Center in Washington, DC. Mass Care Planning coordinates planning for the needs of large numbers of people in temporary shelters, such as planning meals for thousands who are temporarily displaced.  A Forest Service Aviation Group in Austin, TX is assisting the FAA in airspace coordination for the many aircraft in use by agencies in their hurricane response missions.