19 Dec 2012

Jacksonville District’s Housing Planning Response Team on the scene in New Jersey

Within days of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall, which reaped devastating effects across the northeastern seaboard, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District team was among the many national Corps responders to arrive on the scene to provide welcomed relief and assistance.

10 Dec 2012

Corps responds to Superstorm Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was the biggest storm yet of an active tropical storm season. It formed south of Jamaica on Oct. 22, smashed through Cuba Oct. 24-25 and began affecting beaches in Florida by Oct. 26. As it moved further north, concern heighted as it merged with another storm, prior to making landfall near Atlantic City, N.J. Oct. 29. Jacksonville District engineers were on alert from the beginning. The district activated its emergency operations center (EOC) Oct. 24 and closely monitored the storm as it moved through the Bahamas. Once reports started circulating about the full range of impacts in New York and New Jersey, several Jacksonville District team members were tapped for duties in a variety of locations.

5 Dec 2012

USACE: Getting Hurricane Sandy missions done through interagency teamwork

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. -- "She was wandering around mounds of debris along the waterfront at Breezy Point, New York, and the shock on her face was pretty powerful for me," said Jim Balocki, chief, Interagency and International Services, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

19 Nov 2012

Through the lens on Sandy recovery

I saw blue skies, and in the distance, the skyline of Manhattan with the sunlight glistening off the glass-clad skyscrapers like it would on any typical day. But, as I would quickly find out first-hand, nothing was typical in Lower Manhattan, or in many parts of the tri-state area.

8 Nov 2012

USACE ramps up NYC debris removal work

BROOKLYN, New York – Sixty large dump trucks are now moving 150,000 cubic yards of debris from New York City to disposal sites around the city. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is overseeing this Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-assigned mission.

8 Nov 2012

FEMA assigns infrastructure assessment mission to Corps of Engineers

BROOKLYN, New York – Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning and Response Teams are coordinating damage assessments of public buildings, waste and waste water treatment plants, and transportation infrastructure in areas of New York and New Jersey impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

7 Nov 2012

USACE receives three debris removal missions from FEMA

BROOKLYN, New York – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued three mission assignments for debris removal in New York and New Jersey to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in response to damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. USACE crews were deployed Nov. 5 to begin clearing storm-damaged areas.

5 Nov 2012

Corps of Engineers accelerates water removal mission, work progressing at critical sites

BROOKLYN, New York – As part of the Federal government’s unified national response to Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led joint dewatering task force is executing pumping operations with state and federal partners at six flooded mass transit sites in response to the $20 million mission assignment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

10 Oct 2012

What is the USACE Galveston District’s Levee Safety Program?

A. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines a levee as a “man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding.” The terms dike and levee are sometimes used interchangeably. Examples of levee systems in the Houston area are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-constructed Texas City and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System, Freeport and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System, the Port Arthur and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System and the locally constructed levee systems in Fort Bend County.

25 Sep 2012

USACE provides unified response to Hurricane Isaac

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operations Center began closely tracking Hurricane Isaac, about a week before the storm actually made landfall as its predicted path became clearer. In advance of the storm making landfall, USACE had alerted several of its Planning and Response Teams even prepositioning them on the ground in the areas that were expected to be impacted by Isaac.