NWMIMT members checked in at Panama City Airport for first leg of flights back to Massachusetts.
10.28.18 | 5:00PM
Thank you everyone at the Bay County EOC for the opportunity to assist, you welcomed us into your family and it was an honor to serve.
10.27.18 | 12:00PM
Today the team attended our final morning briefing, we demobilize at 2:00pm this afternoon.
10.26.18 | 6:00PM
Ryan Clary NWMIMT GIS Specialist is developing maps of new sites where the public can dispose of construction materials and debris.
10.26.18 | 3:00PM
The morning briefing “word of the day” was #laugh, “Find a reason to laugh. Laughter will do a body good.”.
10.26.18 | 12:30PM
NWMIMT team members working with agencies from around the country in the Plans Unit.
10.25.18 | 6:00PM
Today the team worked on demobilization arrangements for multiple resources including our team.
10.25.18 | 4:00PM
Our GIS Specialist took photos and video in the field, which along with aerial imagery helps when developing maps for operations and logistics.
10.25.18 | 2:00PM
Member Joe Cuneo introduces Chaplain Don Hodges of the Bay County Sheriffs Office, who offers a prayer for responders and Hurricane Michael survivors.
10.25.18 | 12:00PM
A “word of the day” is presented at each morning briefing, today’s word was “Endurance… the power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.” Bay County will endure.
10.24.18 | 2:00PM
Tremendous progress being made, power is being restored, most roads cleared and even the birds have started to return.
10.24.18 | 12:00PM
Team members Butch Garrity and Joe Cuneo present at the 8:00am Planning Meeting in the Bay County EOC.
10.23.18 | 6:00PM
Thanks to our Home Finance and Logistics Support for making arrangements to fly the team home on Oct 28th.
10.23.18 | 4:00PM
Our team PIO is working in the Joint Information Center which gets critical information about the response and available services to the public through newspapers, radio, TV, flyers, video and social media.
10.23.18 | 2:00PM
Team members are beginning to develop transition plans for #BayCounty personnel who will be resuming emergency management.
10.23.18 | 12:00PM
Today five NWMIMT members are moving with the rest of the Logistics Team, from the mobile command trailer, into the Bay County EOC building, Logistics is starting to focus on demobilizing equipment as the response transitions to recovery.
10.22.18 | 3:00PM
Yesterday Florida Governor Rick Scott visited the Bay County EOC where he met NWMIMT Team Leader Dennis Annear.
10.22.18 | 12:00PM
NWMIMT member Joe Cuneo steps in as Planning Section Chief today, he is running the 8am planning meeting in the Bay County EOC.
10.21.18 | 3:00PM
Team member Jonathan Miller has been reassigned to human services division of Operations, which oversees shelters, feeding and Points of Distribution.
10.21.18 | 12:00pm
Team member Ryan Clary helps fellow responder from an Idaho IMT with equipment purchased by our Homeland Security Council, road debris and tires don't mix.
10.21.18 | 11:00am
NWMIMT member Mary Kersell will be assisting Pubic Information Officers in the Joint Information Center.
10.20.18 | 6:00PM
NWMIMT relocated to a secure area of the Bay County EOC Basecamp, this is an area of tents that hold a cafeteria, sleeping quarters, showers, and laundry, large enough to accommodate up to 250 people.
10.20.18 | 4:00PM
Today, Hope Animal Assisted Crisis Response provided support with service dog Kadar to the staff in the Bay County EOC.
10.20.18 | 3:00PM
Member Dennis Annear has been assigned as Medical Unit Leader, his mission is to set up and supply medical units at two basecamps.
10.20.18 | 1:00PM
Today, the team is half way through the deployment, this all wouldn’t be possible without the support of our families, we appreciate you more than you know.
10.20.18 10:00AM
Team members Josh Nigro and Jeff Dumais reviewed demobilization plans in the Bay County EOC.
10.19.18 | 7:00PM
2/2 Member Ryan Clary working with GIS Unit, creating maps to support the response #BayCounty #HurricaneMichael
10.19.18 | 6:00PM
1/2 Members Jeff Dumais and Mary Kersell were assigned to the Demob and Resources Unit, gathering information, tracking personnel and equipment.
10.19.18 | 5:00PM
Multiple Points of Distribution have been set up to provide water, food, and other necessities to people impacted by Hurricane Michael.
10.19.18 | 4:00PM
6/6 Team members Jeff Dumais and C. Mayfield work to organize "T" cards, these are used to identify the location of people and equipment working at various locations in the field.
10.19.18 | 3:00PM
5/6 Member Joe Cuneo is working as Deputy Plans Section Chief in the Bay County EOC.
10.19.18 | 2:00PM
4/6 Members Dennis Annear and Bob Strahan verified deliveries, equipment and supplies that have been made and that are adequate to meet the need.
10.19.18 | 1:00PM
3/6 Member Cam Dunbar worked directly with staff from Panama City to consolidate and expedite requests for equipment support services and personnel.
10.19.18 | 12:00PM
2/6 Member Steve Ouelette reviewed and validated resource requests for supplies and equipment.
10.19.18 | 11:00AM
1/6 Yesterday, NWMIMT member Butch Garrity worked with others in the Situation Unit to continuously update the Bay County EOC staff about conditions in the field and the progress of the response.
10.18.18 | 6:00PM
NWMIMT members are also working with fellow Type III Incident Management Team responders from Mississippi, Ohio and Oregon.
10.18.18 | 3:00PM
NWMIMT member JD Hebert is working as Food Unit Leader to ensure that meals being served to emergency responders are safe.
10.18.18 | 12:00PM
NWMIMT is working seamlessly alongside volunteer members of the Barnstable County Mass Type III Incident Management Team, whose daytime work is with @MassDCR @MassEMA @BCREPC.
10.18.18 | 9:00AM
Wednesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott visited the Bay County EOC.
10.17.18 | 12:00PM
Today team members have been assigned to planning and logistics.
10.17.18 | 10:00AM
The NWMIMT Team Leader and GIS Specialist are en route with a truck of supplies and an RV, they are expected to arrive some time today.
10.17.18 | 8:00AM
Another 90 degree day with 96% humidity is on tap. Due to the heat the team is reminding everyone to stay hydrated, your body weight divided by 2 equals the required number of ounces of water required.
10.16.18 | 8:00PM
Roughly noon time today the team arrived at the Bay County EOC and received the mission briefing, much work ahead.
10.16.18 - 6:00pm
Earlier today two more NWMIMT members left Bradley International Airport for #Florida to assist with Hurricane Michael recovery effort.
10.16.18 - 5:00pm
Because the most common utilities are damaged, cell service and internet may not be available in BayCounty, team members may have limited ability to report home.
10.16.18 - 3:15pm
The team left Jacksonville early this morning for the Bay County EOC, en route the Bay County Sheriffs Office announces all roads are now open.
10.16.18 - 12:00pm
Last night the team stocked-up on supplies in Jacksonville in anticipation of limited infrastructure such as housing and phone service at the mission site, members departed for Southport early this morning.
10.15.18 - 4:00pm
Team arrives in Jacksonville. Members pre-plan and stock supplies in anticipation of limited infrastructure such as housing, water and phone service at Bay County EOC mission site.
10.15.18 - 6:30am
Team members depart for Bradley International Airport.
|
|
10.15.18 Gov. Baker Sends MEMA Team to Assist With Hurricane Michael Recovery Efforts - NECN
10.15.18 Mass. dispatches emergency team to Florida to help with Hurricane Michael recovery effort - Boston Globe
10.15.18 Gov. Baker Authorizes MEMA to Send IMT to Florida to Assist with Hurricane Michael Response & Recovery - Mass.gov
Wikipedia
Hurricane Michael was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the United States in terms of pressure, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille of 1969. It was also the strongest in terms of maximum sustained wind speed to strike the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. In addition, it was the strongest on record in the Florida Panhandle, and was the fourth-strongest landfalling hurricane in the contiguous United States, in terms of wind speed.
By October 10, at least 33 deaths had been attributed to the storm, including 18 in the United States and 15 in Central America. Insurance losses due to Michael in the United States are estimated to be at least $8 billion (2018 USD).[1] As an unnamed tropical depression, the storm caused extensive flooding in Central America in concert with a second disturbance over the eastern Pacific Ocean. In Cuba, the hurricane's winds left over 200,000 people without power as the storm passed to the island's west. Along the Florida panhandle, the cities of Mexico Beach and Panama City suffered the worst of Michael, with catastrophic damage reported due to the extreme winds and storm surge. Numerous homes were flattened and trees felled over a wide swath of the panhandle. A maximum wind gust of 129 mph (208 km/h) was measured at Tyndall Air Force Base near the point of landfall. As Michael tracked across the Southeastern United States, strong winds caused extensive power outages across the region.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Department of Defense Twitter
- US National Guard Twitter
- Florida Governor Scott Twitter
- Florida National Guard Twitter
- Florida SERT Twitter
- Bay County Emergency Operations Center Twitter
- Bay County Emergency Services Facebook
- Bay County Sheriffs Office Twitter
- Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker Twitter
- Massachusetts Lt. Governor Karyn Polito
- Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
- Western Mass Homeland Security Advisory Council
- Northwest Massachusetts Incident Management Team (NWMIMT)
Tallahassee, Florida EOC > REDIRECT > Southport Florida, Bay County EOC - 30.2992015 85.66235110000002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 15, 2018
ANNOUNCEMENT: NWMIMT ACTIVATED
Greenfield – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced that Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is sending more help to Florida as communities continue to recover and rebuild from the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. The Commonwealth has assembled a joint team of emergency management personnel from the Northwest Massachusetts Incident Management Team (NWMIMT) and the Department Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for a fifteen day deployment. “We are honored that our team has been chosen to work alongside DCR personnel to get Floridians back on their feet”, said Dennis Annear, the NWMIMT Team leader. “We are extremely fortunate to have a strong team of experienced professionals willing and available to help.”
Early this week the 12-person incident management team of nine NWMIMT and three DCR personnel will travel from Western MA to Tallahassee, where they will receive their assignment from the State of Florida Emergency Operations Center. The NWMIMT members who will be responding hail from Greenfield, Lanesboro, Leyden, New Salem, Amherst, Monson and Jacksonville Vt. Collectively they have decades of experience managing complex incidents.
The request for assistance from Florida came through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which is the national emergency management mutual aid system that facilitates state-to-state disaster assistance. The requesting state (in this case Florida), fully reimburses Massachusetts for costs. All personnel are coordinated between the two state emergency management agencies.
NWMIMT is a group of highly dedicated volunteers from across Western Massachusetts, each of whom has extensive training in the National Incident Management System. The team has been deployed locally multiple times over the years for missions involving hazardous waste spills, search and rescue operations, brush fires and tornado response. Most recently, the team assisted with a tanker rollover in Whately and a train derailment in Wendell. Further afield, the team has assisted with two other EMAC requests: to assist in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and in New York State after Hurricane Sandy. In Massachusetts the team supported MEMA in the operation of the staging area for the Out-of-State snow removal equipment for the Greater Boston Area in 2015 at Hanscom Field in Bedford.
The team is thankful for the support and funding it has received from the Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council, the
Tri-State Fire Mutual Aid Association and MEMA.
Throughout the Florida deployment, Public Information Officers will provide updates to the team Twitter account @NWMIMT and to www.fireground360.com.
Public Information Officer Mary Kersell
413-330-3496
nwmimtpio@gmail.com
INTERVIEWS
Team Leader Dennis Annear
nwmimt.annear@gmail.com
978-821-9914
or
Deputy Team Leader Tracy Rogers
trogers1972@gmail.com
413-834-0459

nwmimt_press_release_florida.pdf |