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Hurricanes Irma and Maria News Releases

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Hurricanes Irma and Maria News Stories

  • January

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Debris Mission Manager Jasmine Smith stands among the mountain of vegetative debris that has been collected at one of 33 sites across Puerto Rico in support of Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.

    Katrina survivor grows-up to support Maria recovery efforts

    Out of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina many stories have been told of adversity and strength, but Jasmine Smith’s story has been 12-years in the making as she is now serving with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Puerto Rico as the Debris Mission manager.
  • man poses for camera

    Alaska District employee remains dedicated to hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico

    Over the past four months, Jim DeGraff spent just two weeks at home in Alaska. The rest of the time, he was in disaster areas, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to help the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria.

  • USACE supports marine debris removal in Puerto Rico (video)

    In coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is executing a marine debris mission at the Puerto Del Rey marina in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. This is the second marine debris mission to take place in the aftermath of hurricane Maria, with the first taking place before Christmas to remove the wrecks which were a threat to both the environment and navigation.
  • Emergency relief crews working with Army Corps of Engineers, Task Force Power Restoration, pull a wooden power pole up a newly created road to as part of the ongoing effort to restore power to the Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Christmas Eve, 2017. USACE is partnering with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the Department of Energy and FEMA and contracted partners, to restore safe and reliable power to the people of Puerto Rico. As assigned by FEMA, USACE leads the federal effort to repair the hurricane-damaged electrical power grid in support of the Government of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reports 59.4 percent or 875,500 of the 1.47M customers who are able to receive electric power have their service restored.

    Terrain, tropics and topography

    Terrain, tropics, and topography are among the challenges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are overcoming as part of the ongoing operation, Task Force Power Restoration, throughout the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, following the catastrophic hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017.
  • The microgrid temporary power system continues to supply critical power in Maunabo, Puerto Rico, until the town’s main grid is back online. “A microgrid can take many forms,” said USACE Task Force Power Restoration Operations Officer Capt. Aaron Anderson. “We are taking one or more 1,850 kilowatt generators, the huge ones you find powering hospitals and big box stores, and with the use of transformers, set up at a site. We then hook directly into the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority infrastructure through a substation or directly into the main grid, and push power to a variety of facilities that are on the line that haven’t been damaged and can accept it.”

    Microgrid technology brings vital electricity to Puerto Rico’s hardest hit towns

    In a continuing mission to restore critical electrical power to the people of Puerto Rico, Task Force Power Restoration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is using microgrid technology to temporarily power areas that have been hardest hit by Hurricane Maria.
  • man assures truck load

    USACE works to clear hurricane debris on island of Vieques

    A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers debris management operation is now underway on Vieques, an island off the east coast of Puerto Rico. Contract crews are working to clear debris left in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

  • USACE beginning repairs on critical facilities in Puerto Rico (video)

    The Critical Public Facilities mission, or CPF, is one of four efforts undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Recovery Field Office in Puerto Rico. Recently, the mission has transitioned from assessing damage on critical facilities around the island to awarding contracts to conduct repairs on more than 80 buildings in the aftermath of hurricane Maria.
  • man works on generator

    USACE Quality Assurance checks help keep temporary emergency generators running strong in Puerto Rico

    Shelby Deal leans over a generator hooked up to a water pump station on the side of a twisting mountain road in central Puerto Rico. He notes the generator’s barcode and transponder number, inspects its oil and fuel filters, checks the fuel gauge, and records the number of hours the generator has operated. Finally, he assesses the surrounding area to make sure the grounding wire is properly flagged, the generator is level and no wires present a tripping hazard.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations Maj. Gen. Donald E. "Ed" Jackson speaks to power restoration leaders Thomas Holden, Jr., USACE Grid Power Program director, Carlos Torres, Puerto Rico Power Restoration coordinator, Dr. Ahsha Tribble, FEMA Power Sector chief, Col. John Lloyd, Task Force Power Restoration Commander, and Justo Gonzalez, PREPA interim director, at the daily stakeholder coordination meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 4.

    USACE deputy visits Task Force Power in Puerto Rico

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations Maj. Gen. Donald E. "Ed" Jackson visited Task Force Power Restoration at the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Jan. 4 to get an update on the mission and to meet team members.
  • Leah and Evan Morgan, husband and wife team from Huntington District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, share the hand-drawn Christmas tree, sent to them by their Sunday school, age group 7 to 11, of First Missionary Baptist Church, Culloden, West Virginia. Leah, an administrative support assistant, deployed Nov. 14, and Evan, a civil engineer technician, joined her Dec. 22 to support the Corps Task Force Power Restoration mission.

    Task Force Power’s husband, wife team deliver ‘inseparable’ disaster support

    Evan and Leah Morgan have been inseparable since 2010, their freshman year at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. The husband and wife team from Huntington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, knew they wanted to support the recovery mission in Puerto Rico. The only consideration was timing: would the stars align so this couple could deploy together? The answer came on Nov. 14, when Leah, a district contract purchasing agent, deployed to Puerto Rico to support the Task Force Power Restoration mission. Evan, a civil engineer, wouldn’t join her until Dec. 22.

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.