Federal Government Responds to Midwest Ice Storm
Release Date: December 12, 2007
Release Number: HQ-07-245
Washington, D.C. -- Federal assistance continues to speed into the Midwest states affected by the recent ice storms in order to assist state and local governments respond to communities impacted by widespread power outages and icy conditions.
The Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been coordinating the federal response efforts to provide the life-sustaining and critical infrastructure support missions already underway in the hardest hit states. Through direct federal assistance, FEMA and the US Army Corps of Engineers specialists have delivered generators to support the needs of such critical facilities as emergency shelters, hospitals and water treatment plants in Oklahoma and Missouri.
President Bush today signed federal emergency disaster declarations to assist the states of Missouri and Kansas. The emergency declarations opened the way for more federal aid to assist in the efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in these affected states. The declarations are for all 105 counties in Kansas, and for all 114 counties in Missouri and in the Independent City of St. Louis.
FEMA continues to monitor and scale response activities as the weather improves in some areas and more storms move into other areas within the region. Joint federal-state preliminary damage assessments (PDA) will be conducted in Oklahoma and Missouri to identify needs for greater federal assistance as soon as weather permits. Federal liaisons continue to work with the emergency managers in the impacted states to coordinate requests for federal assistance and facilitate federal support operations.
Even before Missouri and Oklahoma officials asked for the declarations, FEMA had been working with them to offer assistance and move resources into the area. Disaster response specialists from FEMA Region V (Chicago, Ill.), Region VI (Denton, Texas) and Region VII (Kansas City, Mo.) also have engaged state officials in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Wisconsin to identify needs and coordinate federal relief efforts to the communities affected there. Federal aid requests for emergency power restoration, essential commodities and life-sustaining missions are anticipated in more areas and FEMA is working to identify the needs of these states as quickly as possible.
Some of the actions undertaken over the past few days include assisting emergency officials monitor effects and assess needs for federal aid. Specifically, the regions and other federal agencies continue to do the following:
Region V Federal Response
The FEMA Region V Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) is activated and monitoring the movement of the next front heading towards the states its serves by Saturday. Although the weather is quiet and there are no longer any local disaster areas, the Region V RRCC is still maintaining continuous contact with state emergency operations centers in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota.
Region VI Federal Response
The FEMA Region VI RRCC remains activated. Current and ongoing support missions have focused on delivering two 50-pk generator kits to Oklahoma City yesterday to assist with state infrastructure.
PDA teams have been identified and are prepared to begin assisting state and local emergency managers assess damage and need for more federal aid.
Trucks carrying drinking water arrived in Tulsa to support state efforts and those of private nonprofit organizations to shelter and feed residents, as more were delivered to the Oklahoma City food bank. Additional regional assets such as cots, blankets, and Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) have been identified and are being prepared to be deployed to Oklahoma City. Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers were deployed to assist with communications and provide temporary working facilities at the Oklahoma state Emergency Operations Center and Joint Field Office, among other places.
President Bush signed a federal emergency disaster declaration hours after the state of Oklahoma submitted its request on Monday, Dec. 10. The emergency declaration opened the way for more federal aid to assist in the efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all 77 counties in Oklahoma.
Region VII Federal Response
The FEMA Region VII RRCC has been activated and has mobilized its Mass Care Emergency Support Function to assist with shelter support if necessary. The region has pre-staged a generator pack, water and MREs in Kansas City, Mo. to assist with state requests. FEMA has been working in coordination with the states to process the emergency declaration requests for Kansas and Missouri.
FEMA coordinates the federal governments role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 12-Dec-2007 19:15:29