Corps Ready To Assist California Firefighting Efforts
By Daniel J. Calderón

Cathy Shuman, action officer for the Army Corps of Engineers housing group, talks with a FEMA team member at the Joint Field Office in Pasadena, Calif. following a meeting Oct. 25 abut the actions necessary to help victims of the wildfires in Southern California. The Corps is part of a combined federal team responsible for assessing and assisting disaster victims.

“Disaster responses are a team effort,” said Beau Hannah, Emergency Support Function #3 team leader. “The Corps, along with city, county state, and federal agencies will work together as part of a team coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). We know how important it is to affected individuals, families and communities that we provide a fast, competent and complete response to this crisis.”

The Corps is responsible for coordinating and organizing public works and engineering support for FEMA under the National Response Plan.  USACE, in coordination with FEMA, is preparing for a number of relief missions, including ice and water delivery, installing and maintaining generators to provide temporary power at critical public facilities where needed, and other engineering or logistical missions that will be needed.
 

(Left to right) Army Corps of Engineers housing group team members Robert Kwan and Delvin Rivas take notes during a teleconference Oct. 25 at the Joint Field Office in Pasadena. The team, as part of a combined federal team including FEMA, is preparing to assist victims of the recent wildfires that forced more than half a million people out of their homes.

“We have team members in the community and we’re prepared to do more,” said Col. Thomas H. Magness IV, Los Angeles District Commander.  “When you see the Corps’ castle insignia on a truck or on a helmet, you are seeing the federal response. Most of the Corps team members you see on disaster relief missions have volunteered for that duty.”

The Corps, as part of the federal disaster response team coordinated by FEMA, has a number of missions, including temporary housing, water and ice delivery, infrastructure assessment support, debris management and removal and other engineering and logistical missions that are needed.

World Water Monitoring Day comes to Rio Salado
By Jennie Ayala

High school students test their skills at measuring the pH balance of water during World Water Monitoring Day Sept. 18 at the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration project in Phoenix, Ariz. The event provided an opportunity to kick-off the final phase of construction in the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project in Phoenix

High school students scoop water from the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration project in Phoenix, Ariz. during World Water Monitoring Day Sept. 18. The event provided an opportunity for students to learn about water monitoring and other topics related to water quality in Arizona. It was also a chance for the Corps to kick-off the final phase of construction in the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project.