Mobilizing A Nation's Resources
Massive Response Blurs Boundaries
Release Date: September 15, 2001
Release Number: R10-01-50
Seattle, WA -- As wide-ranging as the effects of this last week's terrorist strikes have been, the range of resources available for response and recovery activities is wider. Sixteen Urban Search and Rescue teams from across the nation have been activated and either deployed to New York and Washington D.C., or placed on immediate standby. Virtually all others have been placed on Alert. FEMA's Emergency Response Team (Advance) (ERT-A), initially marshaled in Edison, New Jersey has transitioned to staff a Disaster Field Office in New York City, where it will coordinate the resources of over 27 federal agencies, state and local governments and volunteer agencies. American Red Cross chapters from as far away as Oregon and Washington State have dispatched nurse, mental health counselors, communications specialists and food and shelter experts. Tens of millions of dollars in donations are pouring in from corporations, businesses and private citizens. According to Ken Kasprisin, FEMA Regional Director for Region 10 (a jurisdiction including Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state), the lists of donors, resource providers and support for victims of the September 11 Terrorist Strike are unprecedented.
"The heart and soul of disaster assistance in America has always been defined in terms of public and private partnerships, but the scope of resources deploying to New York City is humbling," said Kasprisin. "I understand that a U.S. Marine Corps Chemical/Biological Incident Response Force has been alerted to provide decontamination support to the World Trade Center Urban Search and Rescue task forces, and that the Navy hospital ship USS Comfort has moored at the New York Port. The Puget Sound Urban Search and Rescue team remains on alert for deployment as needed, and our Mobile Emergency Response Support detachment has already sent twenty technicians to the New Jersey staging area for further deployment to support the New York Disaster Field Office."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinates response and recovery operations under Presidential declared disasters and emergencies under the Stafford Act (Public Law 93-288).
Last Modified: Wednesday, 22-Oct-2003 13:40:15