Hurricanes Irma and Maria News Releases

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Hurricanes Irma and Maria News Stories

  • September

    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.
  • 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.
  • USACE Task Force Temporary Emergency Power team powers down in Texas

    68 facilities requested power assistance from Corpus Christi all the way to Beaumont. “45 facilities received generators to power buildings, lift stations, pump stations and other similar facilities,” said Action Officer Matthew R. Slezak. Overall 66 facilities were assessed with 21 not being required and closed, and two canceled with power being restored prior to USACE assessment.
  • Huntsville Center sends experts to support hurricane recovery

    Four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville employees deployed to St. Croix, Virgin Islands, over the weekend to conduct critical public facilities assessments following Hurricane Irma.
  • USACE South Florida Operations staff inspects Herbert Hoover Dike and Okeechobee Waterway

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District’s South Florida Operations staff has the monumental task or inspecting the Herbert Hoover Dike and reopening Okeechobee Waterway post Hurricane Irma, a task that is essential to recovery operations across Southern Florida.
  • Hurricane Irma Response

    Corps of Engineers southeast regional office in Atlanta directs preparations for landfall of Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands, and possible Florida strike.
  • Corps of Engineers researchers use supercomputer to model Harvey flooding

    As forecasts tracked Hurricane Harvey’s course toward Houston last week, researchers in Vicksburg,
  • Water managers passing Harvey runoff through Cheatham, Barkley pools

    NASHVILLE, TENN. (Sept. 1, 2017) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Water Management Center is working this morning to manage runoff from last night’s heavy rainfall from remnants of Hurricane Harvey down the Cumberland River through Cheatham Dam in Ashland City, Tenn., and Barkley Dam in Grand Rivers, Ky.

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.


Emergency Operations

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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.