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Hurricanes Irma and Maria News Releases

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Hurricanes Irma and Maria News Stories

  • December

    workers inspect roof while homeowner looks on

    USACE members experience a different type of homecoming, Part 3

    Greg Aponte is a civil engineer and planner from New York District, where he works on coastal engineering, beach nourishment and riverine watershed studies. He leads a cadre of 25 inspectors who visit hurricane-damaged homes to determine their eligibility for temporary roofing.

  • USACE undergoes a first by installing micro grid in Culebra (video)

    On the island of Culebra, due east of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ temporary emergency power team is tapping into a new way to bring electricity to the people.

  • November

    electrical workers talk near vehicles

    USACE members experience a different type of homecoming, Part 2

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Homecoming is an American fall tradition, full of festivities, excitement and reunions. For several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees originally from Puerto Rico, homecoming has been a different experience this year.
  • electrical workers talk near vehicles

    USACE members experience a different type of homecoming, Part 1

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Homecoming is an American fall tradition, full of festivities, excitement and reunions. For several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees originally from Puerto Rico, homecoming has been a different experience this year.

  • Milestone reached - 700 generators installed by the RFO's temporary power team (video)

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working out of the Recovery Field Office in Puerto Rico reached an unmatched milestone during the holiday weekend when it installed its seven-hundredth temporary generator on the island in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

  • USACE debris mission in Puerto Rico grinding away (video)

    Throughout the island of Puerto Rico, a massive operation to remove more than three million cubic yards of debris churns on. Just outside of Ponce, the Recovery Field Office has established a bustling collection site in the El Tuque Quarry to collect vegetation, or veg, debris.

  • USACE Wraps Up School Assessments in Puerto Rico (video)

    In the mountains of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting one of its last building assessments on critical infrastructure on the island. For more than five weeks, teams have worked tirelessly to document damage done by hurricanes Irma and Maria to more than one-thousand buildings, whether in urban centers or remote mountain villages.

  • September

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Water Expert Mark Crawford meets with members from partner agencies to discuss Florida area support efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Crawford was prepositioned in the area Sept. 7, prior to the storm.

    Mobile District water expert helps Florida residents recover after Hurricane Irma

    In the wake of Hurricane Irma’s devastation, few things are more important to affected Florida residents than drinking water and wastewater. With this in mind, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, prepositioned water expert Mark Crawford, in Tallahassee, Fla., even before the storm hit.
  • Department of Planning and Natural Resources Office Manager for Business and Administration Services talks to a home owner, helping Operation Blue Roof team members as they walk house-to-house. With five team members on the island, the Temporary Roofing Planning and Response Team is currently going house-to-house gathering Right of Entry forms. The forms allow Corps personnel on private property to assess homes and Corps contractors authority to repair the roofs. More Temporary Roofing team members are on their way. Operation Blue Roof’s purpose is to provide homeowners in disaster areas with fiber-reinforced plastic sheeting to cover their damaged roofs until arrangements can be made for permanent repairs.

    First Blue Roof Being Installed in the Virgin Islands

    The first residential temporary roof made of blue plastic sheeting was installed today on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The program, available to qualified homeowners and known as Operation Blue Roof, can make some damaged structures habitable again until more permanent repairs can be made.
  • ATLANTA, GA – Sandy Berens of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Logistics Planning and Response Team (LPRT) is a part of a crew of ten logisticians from all over the United States. The team based here is working with FEMA and the ESTES freight transportation provider to match, move and maneuver empty trailers, on September 19, 2017. These empty trailers are then filled with commodities by FEMA to support and sustain the lives of those affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and now Maria.

    Match, Move, and Maneuver

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Logistics Planning and Response Team (LPRT) has a crew of ten logisticians from all over the United States. The team based here is working with FEMA and the ESTES freight transportation provider to match, move and maneuver empty trailers.

Blue Roof Logo

Operation Blue Roof 1-888-ROOF-BLU (7663-258) is a priority mission managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The purpose of Operation Blue Roof is to provide homeowners in disaster areas with fiber-reinforced sheeting to cover their damaged roofs until arrangements can be made for permanent repairs.

Call centers for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be established as communications on the islands improve.


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Overview

  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is prepared and ready to respond to natural and human-made disasters and overseas contingencies. When disasters occur, USACE teams and other resources are mobilized from across the country to assist our local districts and offices to deliver our response missions.
    • USACE has more than 50 specially-trained response teams supported by emergency contracts to perform a wide range of public works and engineering-related support missions. 
    • USACE uses pre-awarded contracts that can be quickly activated for missions such as debris removal, temporary roofing, commodities distribution, and generator installation.
  • Every year, USACE, as part of the federal government’s unified national response to disasters and emergencies, deploys hundreds of people to provide technical engineering expertise and to promote capacity development at home and abroad. 
    • In 2016, USACE had 1096 personnel deployments in response to one or more of 33 disaster declarations.
      USACE serves as the lead agency to respond with public works and engineering support and to coordinate long-term infrastructure recovery.