AUGUSTA, Maine - A volunteer multi-disciplinary team of emergency operations specialists left Maine last Friday headed to the Emergency Operations Center in Brooklyn to provide disaster relief assistance in response to Hurricane Sandy.
The Maine group remains on the ground fully engaged in disaster assistance.
Team members have been tasked with a variety of assignments. Lt. Col. Brenda Jordan, Maine Air National Guard member from Glenburn, Maine, is assigned to the New York City Unified Operations and Resources Center (UORC) assisting with sheltering operations logistics.
"We are working 12-hour shifts. The last two days we worked with AmeriCorps going out to shelters helping to establish a command structure, assessing critical needs for resources both people and supplies, and carrying the message back to the UORC," Jordan said.
Ten days after Hurricane Sandy released its violent fury on New Jersey, New York and much of New England, countless communities still struggle to provide basic services and support to citizens affected by the devastation.
"There were 14 shelters running today. Shelters are in high schools or colleges; one shelter is in an armory. Each site has its own unique challenges," Jordan said. "The volunteerism is amazing, but people are getting exhausted since many of them have been working long shifts since the beginning."
Additional Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) requests have been made and are being considered. EMAC is a mutual aid agreement among states that enables them to share resources during disasters such as Hurricane Sandy.
The team on the ground includes personnel from the Maine Air and Army National Guard, Departments of Public Safety and Transportation, Emergency Management Agency, as well as a local fire and a private sector energy expert that specialize in several of the different emergency support functions.