Less than 48 hours after sending additional resources to New Mexico in support of statewide wildfires, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) announced the deployment of a crisis communication expert to Montana in response to historic flooding.
Citing a need for recovery and interagency expertise, Cal OES sent a Public Information Officer from the Crisis Communication and Public Affairs Team for a 14-day deployment to Helena to support the State’s Emergency Operations Center.
Heavy rain and melting snow caused damaging floods throughout Montana, forcing evacuations in large areas of Yellowstone National Park. Houses were damaged, and roads and bridges were destroyed by floodwaters. Significant flooding also impacted the city of Billings and other areas in Eastern Montana.
On June 21, California sent a seven-member Type III Incident Management Team to New Mexico from local jurisdictions for a 14-day deployment to provide relief to the State’s Emergency Operations Center. Cal OES also deployed one Type III strike team to Santa Fe on April 29, consisting of five engines and a Cal OES Assistant Chief, as well as an additional strike team on May 5 and a Cal OES Recovery Team – consisting of experts in Watershed and Debris Flow, Debris Operations, Public Assistance, Individual Assistance, and Interagency Recovery Coordination – on May 8
Cal OES continues to monitor operations in Montana and New Mexico and additional Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) requests. EMAC, which includes the participation of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is a nationally recognized mutual-aid system that provides the foundation for states to request and send resources across their borders when impacted by a disaster.
For more information on the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, follow this link.