Sounds like they may also need breakfast..
Ha!
FEMA stages at Travis AFB in response to Oroville Dam situation
February 16, 2017 Real Estate News
National Mortgage News
February 16, 2017 7:09 pm | FEMA stages at Travis AFB in response to Oroville Dam situation
Team Travis has mobilized once again, this time to provide load space and a staging area at the Air Force base for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) crews on standby in case of another emergency at the Oroville Dam.
Thursday, 44 FEMA trucks and a multitude of personnel were expected to arrive at Travis.
The trucks, according to Mike Hurley, FEMA logistics chief for District 9, were heading out from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and all are carrying everything from medical supplies to blankets to cots.
The staff, aka the Incident Staging Base Team, meanwhile, is traveling in from all over the U.S.
“The effort’s been ongoing for the last couple of days,” he said. He got the call Sunday and began making his own thereafter.
The first supply trucks came rolling in late Wednesday night, he said. FEMA officials had been working with state officials to determine what items might be needed, and those items were gathered and stocked in the trucks en route to Travis.
“This is in addition to what the state already has at the Chico Airport,” Hurley advised.
Once there, FEMA staff check the loads and inventory the trucks before parking. Should officials get the green light from their state partners, the trucks with the items designated as needed will head out.
“It’ll take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours,” he said, about drive time to Oroville.
“It’s all based on the president declaring a state of emergency on Feb. 14,” explained Veronica Verde, external affairs officer with FEMA’s SoCal field office.
There’s no stated end date for the operation.
“We’re going to be here as long as it takes,” Verde said.
FEMA officials are working out of a field office in Rancho Cordova, monitoring the Oroville situation with the state, she added.
“We’re doing a lot of planning and having a lot of conversations,” she said.
She emphasizes that, regardless of the situation, everyone should have an emergency plan, an emergency kit ready to go, and a conversation with family about where to meet should an emergency occur.
“Most important,” she stressed, “When the local government tells you to evacuate, evacuate.”
Col. John Klein, 60th Air Mobility Wing Commander, said Travis stands at the ready to serve.
Advertisement
“It’s an honor to be able to support FEMA in their potential response to the spillway in Oroville,” he said. “We have the facilities, the geographical support base. We’re able to help.”
The last time Travis provided similar support to FEMA was in 2012, during the Hurricane Sandy situation, he said.
In 2005, Travis provided defense support to civil authorities in response to Hurricane Katrina, sending two C-5 Galaxy aircraft to deliver FEMA trucks to the area.
“We like to say here at Travis that we serve locally but we’re engaged globally,” Klein said.
He, too, said there’s no official end date for the operation, but affirmed that FEMA’s always welcome at Travis.
“The bottom line is, we’ll support them as long as they need support,” he said.