Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Mile High Disaster

On September 11, Colorado had "historic" flooding north of the Denver area.  While the West IMAT team took the initial response, they had been in Denver for 40+ days.  FEMA Leadership thought it would be nice to switch things up, so they switched teams!  We arrived in Denver yesterday and are set to be here 30 to 60 days.  I believe they plan to have us close down the JFO (Joint Field Office) here when we leave.  If not, we could play tag again and switch out once again.  Today I got to head up to the flood area to scope out a new office location as well as visit an existing one.  I hope to get into some more of the damage zone again.


Sunday, October 6, 2013

And we are home again

After showing up at the Florida State EOC this morning, Karen was declared officially not a threat and we were told to go right home.  So back to the hotel, book flights, pack, and get to the airport.  And 12 hours later, we are all back in DC.  Hence the grind.  Let's hope something else picks up soon so we can head out again.  Here's a picture from lunch today, looking for Karen.  I call it good situational awareness!


Saturday, October 5, 2013

Karen... you fickle woman.... err, storm

Well, we all arrived in Florida last night.  TS Karen was still moving north but weakening ever so slightly.  This morning our whole team went to the Florida State Emergency Operations Center.  We worked out of their offices today as we watched the storm continue to weaken and even stall almost as it was getting closer.  At this point, it will not hit our area here now until Monday, or beyond.  And by then, it may be down to just a remnant.  But we are here, ready to serve the people of the State of Florida if and when they need us.  Stay tuned!

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Florida bound!

Well, we just got our first official deployment!  We are off to Florida in anticipation of Tropical Storm Karen.  More to come soon!!