Staff Reports
Gov. Rick Scott has sent a team of “hazard managers” to South Carolina to assist in the Palmetto State’s response to record flooding in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin.
From the Monday afternoon press release:
The seven-member team from the Jacksonville area arrived in South Carolina yesterday and are working jointly with South Carolina’s state government and federal partners to ensure the state has the tools and resources necessary to respond.
Governor Scott said, “The flooding in South Carolina is tragic and our hearts go out to all of those affected by this disaster. Today, we are proud to be able to offer assistance through the deployment of professionals from Florida’s world-renowned emergency management community. I would like to thank the team from Northeast Florida for their quick deployment and their work to aid their fellow Americans. We will continue to monitor the situation in South Carolina as we stand ready to ensure South Carolinians can rapidly respond and recover.”
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Bryan W. Koon said, “South Carolina requested support for their state emergency operations center on Saturday, and the Northeast Florida AHIMT (All-Hazards Incident Management Team) arrived yesterday afternoon. The experience and capabilities of this team will assist South Carolina in stabilizing the event and assisting the survivors. Florida is prepared to offer further assistance if requested.”
The Northeast AHIMT is one of six in the state of Florida, and is based out of the Jacksonville area. This team responded to a specific request for assistance in the areas of incident command, finance, liaison, logistics, planning, public information and operations.
The Northeast Florida AHIMT was deployed through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). Established in 1996, EMAC is a mutual aid agreement between the states and territories of the United States. EMAC enables states to share resources during governor-declared states of emergencies in response to disasters. These resources can include personnel, equipment and commodities.
