As part of the federal government’s unified response to disasters and emergencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided engineering expertise around the globe during the past year, underscoring the organization’s three primary priorities:
Support immediate emergency response priorities;
Sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs; and
Set conditions for recovery.
Midwest Floods (June 2008)
Record-breaking storms resulted in flooding in a six-state region within the Midwest, an event more intense than the 1993 floods, but of shorter duration. High-water records were set at 47 gage stations along tributaries in the Upper and Middle Mississippi River Basin.
The levees worked as intended, although some overtopped. The net result was that local emergency management officials were able to safely evacuate residents and, in some instances, provided much-needed extra time to reinforce and improve levees to protect lives and property.
The Corps worked closely with state and local emergency managers to inspect, advise and assist communities, deploying experts to monitor and assess Mississippi River levees, supplying more than 100 pumps, 3,000 rolls of plastic sheeting and 13 million sandbags for flood fighting. Additionally, the Corps carried out FEMA-mandated missions of debris removal, commodity distribution, and establishing temporary housing and emergency power.
As the region sets about the challenges of long-term recovery, the Corps is working with FEMA and other federal, state and local agencies as part of the Regional Interagency Levee Task Force to restore damaged flood management systems through an integrated approach incorporating structural and non-structural alternatives.
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike (August, September 2008)
Hurricane Gustav threatened portions of the Gulf Coast nearly three years to the day of Hurricane Katrina. The work the Corps has done to repair, restore and ensure a resilient Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System in the greater New Orleans area was put to the test. The system performed as designed.
Hurricane Ike followed close on the heels of Gustav, primarily impacting Texas Gulf Coast communities of Galveston, Houston and surrounding counties.
Nearly 900 Corps employees were engaged in hurricane emergency support missions: temporary power for critical public facilities, debris management, infrastructure assessments, temporary roofing, procurement of drinking water and ice, technical assistance for establishing points of distribution for commodities, and temporary housing technical assistance.
2008 Hurricane Response By the Numbers
Gustav
Ike
1,215 truckloads of bottled water and 1,071 truckloads of ice to 90 points of distrubtion (PODS).
436 pre-installation power inspections.
179 generators installed at critical public facilities.
25,708 temporary roofs installed.
1595 installation inspections for temporary housing (mobile homes).
546 jurisdictions in 46 Texas counties supported with debris removal monitoring and technical assistance.
70,000 cubic yards of debris removed in the Louisiana parishes of Cameron and Vermilion.