Planning Pays Off in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Meeting the first Friday of every month - for more than two years.
Meeting with the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency (PREMA), the Solid Waste Authority, the Public Works Department, firefighters, and every emergency support function on the island, the tiny FEMA staff has slowly grown from six fulltime employees to fourteen.
It all paid off for FEMA's Caribbean Area Division this fall when a storm system stalled over Puerto Rico and dumped almost 30 inches of rain in some areas over three days starting September 21. Five people died, more than the lives lost in the island during Hurricane Georges.
But the recovery effort has been smooth. Nine Disaster Recovery Centers opened within the first nine days, and more than $5.6 million has been approved for affected residents. A swarm of Community Relations teams and inspectors hit the field. Top Commonwealth and FEMA officials began visiting the mayors of every affected municipality.
"All our offices are within walking distance of the PREMA's Emergency Operations Center," says Alex De La Campa, director of the Caribbean Area Division. "We've had monthly meetings to talk about distribution plans, debris removal plans, and sheltering plans. We had two sites picked out for Disaster Recovery Centers in every one of the 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico. The same for debris staging areas. Our staff trains with the Puerto Rico emergency management staff. We know each other extremely well."
Last Modified: Monday, 20-Oct-2008 11:27:46 EDT