Each year the Corps emergency response teams help communities deal with and recover from many different types of natural and manmade disasters. Recent examples are:

Hurricane Katrina
The Corps of Engineers was instrumental in providing emergency relief for the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

After landfall on August 29, 2005, the Corps responded with key rescue and repair personnel who were instrumental in providing restoration of critical public services and facilities, including:

• Provision of temporary emergency electrical power
• Temporary emergency housing
• Structural evaluation of buildings and damage assessment
• Plan development for all hazards response
• Emergency clearance of debris to enable reconnaissance and movement of emergency personnel and equipment
• Temporary construction of emergency access routes, including damaged streets, roads, bridges, ports, waterways, airfields, and any other facilities necessary for passage of rescue personnel
• Supply of drinking water, temporary restoration of water supply systems
• Provision of water for fire fighting
• Emergency demolition or stabilization of damaged structures and facilities
• Technical assistance

Hurricane Rita
While still dealing with the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina, the Corps also was called on to respond in Texas as Hurricane Rita, having struck south Florida and the Florida Keys on September 20, 2005, made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas and Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana as a category 3 storm on September 24.

In New Orleans, the Corps pre-positioned teams for possible levee breaches and responded quickly to Rita-related flooding that overtopped levees.

In Texas, the Corps prepositioned a three-day supply of ice and water. The Corps set up a command cell in Beaumont with specialists in engineering, real estate, and environmental remediation. Corps teams led the debris removal mission in affected areas, removing over 100,000 cubic yards of vegetation debris. Engineers at the Corps Sam Rayburn Powerhouse jumpstarted power in Rita-ravaged Jasper County one week after landfall, an unusual move designed to meet urgent requirements for power at critical-need facilities.

revised 12/23/05

search | contact us | about us | site map