|
|
Emergency responders from Honolulu District, U.S. Army 249th Prime Power Engineer Battalion and FEMA pose outside their base headquarters in American Samoa.
Photo by Terrie Zuiderhoek, FEMA Operations Section, Deputy Section Chief
|
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers (USACE), Honolulu District, in coordination with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), continues to deploy
personnel and provide support to the people of American Samoa in the
aftermath of the Sept. 29 tsunami.
“Our teammates in American Samoa are having a significantly
positive impact in support of FEMA, the people of Samoa, and the
territorial leadership,” said Maj. John Henderson, deputy commander
for the USACE, Honolulu District. “American Samoa Governor Tulafono
and Congressman Faleomavaega have expressed their sincere gratitude
for all that we are doing for American Samoa.”
The
District currently has six subject-matter-experts and 18 Soldiers
from B Company, 249th Prime Power Engineer Battalion
deployed in American Samoa. The District Headquarters is
facilitating project management, logistical, contracting,
operations, personnel and funding support from Honolulu to the
Soldiers and Civilians on the ground in Samoa.
“In
this emergency, our friends need help and the federal government,
including FEMA and the Corps of Engineers, has responded
aggressively,” said Brig. Gen. Mark W. Yenter, commander of the
USACE, Pacific Ocean Division. “I am very proud of the support our
federal employees and Soldiers have provided. We have a long way to
go and we will get there together.”
The
Corps of Engineers is executing emergency power missions,
constructing temporary structures to serve as interim schools,
conducting damage assessments on federal projects and providing
technical assistance for debris removal, temporary housing, and
water / wastewater.
“Our
team on the ground is experiencing the great rewards that come from
selfless service to those who need it the most,” said Henderson.
The
Honolulu District water /wastewater subject-matter-expert, Michael
Wong, who recently returned from Samoa, said that with the help of
the supplemented power, all connected customers on the island had
safe drinking water within one week of the disaster.
The
Corps has been and will continue to provide emergency power support
until the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) can stabilize the
grid and restore power generation capacity. The Satala Power Plant,
one of the two power stations on the island of Tutuila, was severely
damaged in the tsunami and is not operational. The Tafuna Power
Plant is running at full capacity but under the threat of full
system overload and failure.
To
relieve some of the stress to the Tafuna power station, the Soldiers
of the 249th
Engineer Battalion installed 46 generators and four transformers of
various sizes in several locations to generate nine mega-watts of
power for island usage. Most of the generator sets were
installed directly on to the grid, which is not a traditional
mission for the 249th and is considerably more dangerous.
“This
is a rare task for the Corps to support the whole power system and
augment the power station grid,” said Cindy Barger, a mission
manager for the Honolulu District Power Planning and Response Team
(PRT). “Usually the Power PRT installs smaller individual generators
at essential public facilities like hospitals, emergency management
centers, and water or waste water pump stations.”
“We
are confronting new challenges everyday, but we work to resolve them
in new ways,” said Don Schlack, a Honolulu District Power PRT
subject-matter-expert currently deployed to Samoa. “We are supplying
communities with power that otherwise would be blacked out.”
FEMA
also has tasked the Corps with constructing 12 buildings to serve as
five temporary schools in communities that were heavily damaged or
destroyed in the tsunami. Construction of these facilities is
expected to be complete by Dec. 15th.
[Read More...] | 
