Sixteen Walla Walla District Power Team Members Return From Mission in Guam; Two Relocate to Saipan to Assist Recovery Efforts

WALLA WALLA, Washington, Sept. 14 -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the following news release:

Sixteen members of Walla Walla District's 18-member Temporary Emergency Power Planning and Response Team (PRT) returned home during Sept. 13 and 14, after providing support to FEMA's Typhoon Mangkhut emergency-response efforts in Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), according to District emergency management officials. Both Guam and the CNMI are U.S. territories located east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean.

Two Power PRT members will remain to continue assisting FEMA's temporary emergency power assistance mission.

The District's Power PRT deployed on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018. Homes, businesses, roads and power systems were damaged as Mangkhut passed within 50 miles of Guam on Monday night, Sept. 10, 2018 (Guam's time zone, Chamorro Standard Time (ChST), is 17 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time).

The typhoon directly hit Rota, the southernmost island of the CNMI, about 56 miles north-northeast from Guam. President Donald J. Trump signed an emergency declaration Sept. 10 (EDT) for the Northern Mariana Islands, authorizing FEMA to coordinate disaster-relief efforts.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emergency response teams began damage assessments on Guam and CNMI at the onset of daylight, Sept. 11 (ChST). The District's Power PRT and Soldiers from the 249th Engineer Battalion conducted 14 assessments for temporary emergency power in Rota and made a repair to a generator at a pharmacy. Initial priorities have been met with power restored to Guam Memorial Hospital, schools, the A. B. Won Pat International Airport, and the Guam Port Authority.

The two remaining District Power PRT members will relocate to support FEMA's emergency-response operations based on Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. Jean DesJarlais, the District's hydropower business line manager, who serves as the District's temporary emergency power-response team lead and mission manager; and Troy Gilbert, a civil engineer and the District's Levee Safety Program manager, who serves as a Power PRT action officer, are both from the District Headquarters and reside in Walla Walla, Washington.

Power PRT members returning home following a successful mission in Guam include:

-- Alex Almeida, a power plant electrician from Lower Monumental Lock and Dam, near Kahlotus, Washington, who resides in Kennewick, Washington, served as a Power PRT quality assurance specialist.

-- Lonnie Croft, a maintenance worker from Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake in Walla Walla, who resides in College Place, served as the Power PRT mission liaison at the Pacific Ocean Division's Recovery Field Office in Honolulu, Hawaii.

-- Shawn Cunningham, an electronics systems control craftsworker from McNary Lock and Dam, near Umatilla, Oregon, who resides in Kennewick, served as a Power PRT quality assurance specialist.

-- Josh Dougan, an electrical crew supervisor from Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, near Burbank, Washingto, who resides in Burbank, served as a Power PRT logistics specialist.

-- Carlos Flores, an electrical engineer from Electrical Design Section at the District Headquarters, who resides in Walla Walla, served as a Power PRT quality assurance specialist.

-- Kevin Kuhar, a District mechanical engineer providing cost-engineering support to the Department of Energy in Richland, Washington, who resides in Walla Walla, served as the Power PRT assistant mission manager.

-- Svren Lobe, a power plant electrician from Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, who resides in Richland, served as a Power PRT logistics specialist.

-- Shawn McCann, a power plant electrician from Little Goose Lock and Dam near Starbuck, Washington, who resides in Dayton, Washington, served as a Power PRT quality assurance specialist.

-- A realty specialist, from Walla Walla, served as a Power PRT action officer.

-- Julie Morris, a contract specialist, who resides in Walla Walla, provided contracting support for the Power PRT.

-- Victoria Richmond, a contract specialist, who resides in Walla Walla and served as a Power PRT mission specialist.

-- Alfredo Rodriguez, a civil engineer and reservoir regulator, who resides in College Place, served as a Power PRT mission specialist.

-- Aaron Schuff, a civil engineer and contracting officer representative at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, who resides in Pasco, Washington, served as the Power PRT's quality assurance lead.

-- Pavel Susin, an electrical engineer from Operations Division's Technical Support Branch at the District Headquarters, who resides in College Place, served as a Power PRT quality assurance specialist.

-- Mary VanSickle, a contract specialist, who resides in College Place, provided contracting support for the Power PRT.

-- Jim Wade, a maintenance control specialist from Lower Granite Lock and Dam, near Pomeroy, Washington, who resides in Pomeroy, served as a Power PRT quality assurance specialist.

POWER PRT BACKGROUND

The Walla Walla District maintains one of the Corps' seven Temporary Emergency Power Planning and Response Teams (PRTs), ready to deploy as part of the Corps' Emergency Support Function (ESF) #3, public works and engineering-related support. The Corps' emergency power teams, often with soldiers from the 249th Engineer Battalion, conduct assessments and install generators to assist with getting critical public facilities operational in the wake of disaster.

The all-volunteer teams can provide backup electrical power generation anywhere an emergency makes the service needed. Team members agree to be in an on-call status, ready to deploy on short-notice when disaster strikes. Power team members directly support FEMA-led emergency management staging areas and operations centers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is prepared and ready to respond to natural and human-made disasters. When disasters occur, Corps teams and other resources are mobilized from across the country to assist our local districts and offices to deliver our response missions. The Corps is part of the federal government's unified national response to disasters and emergencies, and serves as the lead agency to respond with public works and engineering support, and to coordinate long-term infrastructure recovery. The Corps conducts its emergency response activities under two basic authorities - the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act, and mission-assigned by FEMA, under the Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act.

In any disaster, the Corps' top priorities are 1) support immediate life-saving and life-safety response priorities; 2) sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs; and 3) initiate recovery efforts by assessing and restoring critical infrastructure.