Photo By Maj. Will Cox | Georgia Army National Guard Air Crew members conduct fire suppression training in a...... read more read more
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ATLANTA, May 9, 2014 – It is not a question of if, but when the next category three hurricane will hit Georgia’s coast. The last category three hurricane hit Savannah more than a century ago, and some say that we are long overdue for a major hurricane landfall.
Representatives of the Georgia Department of Defense and local, state and volunteer agencies participated in the biennial Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security hurricane exercise May 6-8 throughout the state. The exercise simulated a category three hurricane impact to the Georgia Coast and tested the abilities of agencies to plan, coordinate preparations and respond.
“HURREX 2014 allows GEMA and all of our emergency response partners to practice our ability to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a tropical weather disaster,” said GEMA Director Charley English. “Georgia is vulnerable to hurricanes and it only takes one serious storm to devastate an area.”
GEMA’s state operations center in Atlanta and many local emergency operations centers across Georgia were activated for the exercise. The Georgia Guard provided liaison support to the state operation center as well as the aviation support center in Savannah, where Georgia Guard aviators provided support to local first responders.
The purpose of HURREX 2014 was to demonstrate state, local and volunteer agencies’ ability to simultaneously set up, staff and operate emergency operations center functions and support services. A reception center, evacuation shelters, a pet shelter, and an aviation support operations center were set up to support the exercise to include simulated lift and fire suppression missions.
“Our mission is to support GEMA’s hurricane disaster response,” said Lt. Col. Jason Fryman, aviation task force commander. “We are integrating and synchronizing our assets and capabilities with GEMA’s response effort to help save lives and reduce suffering following an emergency.”
The exercise participants conducted pre-landfall operations during phase I to ensure a synchronized and effective evacuation of affected individuals out of the danger area. Phase II consisted of post-landfall operations where the SOC and ASOC had to be prepared to set up self-sufficient operations.
“The ASOC assigned aviation operations to the appropriate supporting agency with the capability and availability to accomplish the mission,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Rhodes of the Georgia State Patrol and Air Boss at GEMA’s aviation support operations center.
“During post landfall operations, we expect to conduct missions such as photo reconnaissance, personnel movement, equipment movement, patient evacuation and search and rescue operations.”
Aviation participants include the Civil Air patrol, Georgia Forestry Commission, State Patrol and the National Guard.
“Each of the agency’s representatives are experts at what they do, and this exercise is a good opportunity for all of us to work together to ensure we can communicate, task and track missions smoothly,” said Rhodes. “Each year we are able to identify issues during the exercise and work through them so we are that much better prepared to respond when our citizens need us.”
Once the post-land fall phase begins, aviation assets would fly into the affected areas to set up operations and conduct follow on operations as assigned by the GEMA SOC.
“We stand ready to provide that unique aviation capability to conduct search and rescue operations, move emergency equipment or personnel, identify where the roads are blocked and provide damage assessments to help decision makers prioritize the recovery effort during those first critical hours of the response,” said Fryman.
| Date Taken: | 05.09.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.09.2014 10:00 |
| Story ID: | 129290 |
| Location: | ATLANTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 182 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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