Army engineers ready to respond to Hurricane Sandy impacts

Published Oct. 28, 2012

BROOKLYN, New York – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division is taking action in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall to monitor storm activity, minimize flood damage, and prepare its staff to respond to local and regional emergency orders.

 

The Army Corps is part of the federal government’s unified national response to disasters and emergencies. The Corps assists the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA by coordinating and organizing public works and engineering-related support. In any disaster, the Corps’ top three priorities are to support immediate emergency response priorities; sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs; and initiate recovery efforts by assessing and restoring critical infrastructure.

 

Under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act, often called Public Law 84-99, the Army Corps provides assistance to communities to reduce risk to the public, property or the environment. The law gives the Corps the authority to provide a range of assistance – technical assistance, supplies and equipment, emergency contracting, strengthening flood control works, creating temporary levees, channel clearance, dam failure relief, levee rehabilitation and participation in an intergovernmental levee task force.

 

In the aftermath of a disaster, the Corps conducts several key response actions to keep thousands of vessels moving people, commodities and products via the nation’s waterways.

 

“The Corps’ response to Hurricane Sandy isn’t about a local Corps office mobilizing its resources,” said Colonel Kent D. Savre, the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division, who oversees the Army Corps’ operations in the northeastern U.S., Europe, and Africa. “This is about the entire region – from Maine to Virginia – mobilizing its people, commodities, and resources to respond. We are standing together. We are standing strong.”

Any media seeking to speak to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division about the Corps' actions before, during or after Hurricane Sandy should contact Justin Ward at 347-370-4550, 347-675-8601, or justin.m.ward@usace.army.mil.


Contact
Justin Ward
347-370-4550
justin.m.ward@usace.army.mil

Release no. 12-020