PEARL –The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has two staff members on their way to North Carolina to support preparations for potential impacts of Hurricane Matthew.
The team is called an EMAC “A-Team,” which will help coordinate response and recovery resources into the state of North Carolina from other states. The team is comprised of MEMA’s Office of Preparedness Director Susan Perkins and Operations Officer Tina Reed. They will work out of the State Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, NC.
North Carolina requested Mississippi personnel through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
“This is a major hurricane, something North Carolina has not experienced in more than 20 years,” said MEMA Executive Director Lee Smithson. “Mississippi is proud to be able to send support and we are honored to have the respect of other states to request our experienced emergency management specialists.”
The Emergency Management Assistance Compact is an agreement signed by all 50 states and the U.S. Territories and allows for state-to-state support during disasters. The expenses for this deployment are being paid completely by North Carolina.
MEMA is prepared to send more support if it is requested.
For more information on the Emergency Management Assistance Compact please visit www.emacweb.org.
MEMA will update this mission on its website, www.msema.org, and through its social media outlets Facebook and Twitter.