Then: Team members install a FEMA blue roof at a residence after Hurricane Katrina, 2005. 
Now: USACE Vicksburg District senior project manager Katy Breaux (center) tours O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant, Sept. 26, 2022, in Jackson, Mississippi, with members of the district's Emergency Management team and USACE Baltimore District in response to the Jackson water crisis. (USACE photo by Anna Owens) 

Our Emergency Operations team provides leadership and support to local and state governments. Team members are often the first people with boots on the ground during flood events, major storms, and other natural disaster.  
In the past few years, our team has supported recovery efforts for Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Ida, the 2022 Pearl River flood event, and the Jackson, Mississippi water crisis. In August 2021, our Harbor team members coordinated the delivery of 210,000 sandbags late into the night during Hurricane Ian. In October 2022, district Deputy Commander Maj. Rocky Streif led the Recovery Field Office (RFO) in Tampa, Florida, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Our Deployable Tactical Operations System (DTOS) team members also supported a temporary power mission in Immokalee, Florida. 
Once FEMA assigns a disaster response mission, our team members deploy across the country and coordinate with other agencies. Each of our two-person DTOS teams, for example, are ready to leave within 24 hours. In an emergency, every action is critical to complete the mission. We restore power to communities in need, help install temporary roofs through FEMA’s Operation Blue Roof, and provide logistics and equipment support.