OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma personnel are once again supporting the State of Louisiana after Hurricane Delta made landfall Friday evening. More than 80 personnel from Oklahoma deployed ahead of the storm to help with search and rescue, sheltering, and emergency operations.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (ODEMHS) Director Mark Gower said, "Oklahoma has been the recipient of support from neighboring states in the past. We are willing to do whatever we can to return the favor and help Louisiana as they prepare for another storm."
The Hurricane Delta deployment includes the following:
A seven-person Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Support Team with personnel from ODEMHS, Tulsa Police Department, and Oklahoma State Department of Health is working with the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) in Baton Rouge to help with response coordination, mapping and analysis of impacts and hazards, and other operations support functions.
An eight-person team from Bartlesville/Washington County Emergency Management and Tulsa Police Department is supporting a local EOC and shelter operations in Houma, LA.
Two Oklahoma Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams with water rescue capabilities are supporting (GOHSEP) and local emergency management jurisdictions with search and rescue operations in the hardest hit areas of the Louisiana coast. The two 35-person teams are made up of personnel from Broken Arrow Fire, Bethany Fire, Edmond Fire, Oklahoma City Fire, Norman Fire, Oklahoma City Police, Owasso Fire, Sand Springs Fire, Tulsa Fire, Tulsa Police, Verdigris Fire and the Grand River Dam Authority, as well as vehicles, boats and equipment.
The teams are deployed through the Interstate Emergency Response Support Plan, a regional mutual aid agreement for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 6 states, and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). EMAC is a national mutual aid system that allows states to send personnel, equipment and commodities to help disaster relief efforts in other states.
ODEMHS is coordinating with GOHSEP and monitoring additional requests from the affected areas. Further support may be deployed if needed.
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