BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Members of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) are headed to California to support, as they deal with heavy rain, flooding and landslides.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has prioritized helping other states deal with emergency conditions, just as others have supported Louisiana during hurricanes and other natural disasters.
California began receiving severe weather in late December. Since then, it has become a near-regular basis across the state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, and President Joe Biden approved a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration.
“The scenes and the conditions in California or something we are all too familiar with,” said Edwards. “While our prayers are with the people of the state, we will gladly support response and recovery efforts whenever possible. Flooding and the impacts from flooding can be some of the most difficult issues for a family or a community to face, as we saw with the two major flood events in 2016 in Louisiana. We stand ready to help with whatever resources we can share.”
“The four-person, recovery team from GOHSEP specializes in the Public Assistance field,” stated GOHSEP Director Casey Tingle. “That work can include everything from federal assistance for debris removal and emergency response work to repairs of public buildings, equipment and public utilities. Our team is experienced and is often called upon by others facing an emergency. The 30-day deployment will allow the group to assist emergency managers in California dealing with these critical aspects of recovery.”
States can request assistance from other states through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) system. EMAC offers assistance during declared states of emergency to send resources to help relief.