New England District Commander, team members respond to Hurricane Helene

When Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26, it left a path of destruction in its wake from Florida to Virginia, with record-breaking rainfall resulting in catastrophic flooding, landslides, power outages, coastal erosion and devastating wide-spread debris on roads, homes and in waterways. Roads and homes collapsed, and water and wastewater processing systems were destroyed resulting in thousands without potable running water and the resulting wastewater contamination. But amidst the destruction, there was some hope.

Federal resources, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, were on the ground quickly after the storm to support the State and locals with response and recovery efforts. On Oct. 7, New England District Commander, Col. Justin Pabis, PE, went down to North Carolina to serve as the Military Task Force Commander in charge of infrastructure assessment, including assessment of water and wastewater impacts and routes to restoration. The task force mission’s initial focus was Asheville, NC and the surrounding areas in Western North Carolina.

Col. Pabis completed his deployment on October 31. Other New England District team members who deployed in support of various Helene and Milton response efforts include Emily Berry of the Executive Office, who supported Col. Pabis’ infrastructure team, Maj. Ryan Hall (Debris response in Virginia) Mark Anderson,(ESF#3 Team Lead in Virginia) and Doug Fransioli (Emergency Management support in Florida).

The New England District team is proud of Col. Pabis and our other teammates for volunteering to go and help with this effort. They will be speaking about their deployment experiences on Dec. 10, and we encourage the team to attend. If you are a New England District team member and would like to volunteer to support disaster response and recovery efforts, please contact the New England District Emergency Management Office for more information.