Travis supports FEMA

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Daniel Phelps
  • 349th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --  Due to historical rainfall and flooding across Northern California, Travis Air Force Base is supporting an incident management assistance team (IMAT) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a staging area at the base.

In conjunction with FEMA, Air Forces Northern and U.S. Northern Command determined Travis was best suited to support a FEMA Incident Support Base (ISB) to provide relief to communities affected by a potential Oroville Auxiliary Spillway failure, said Master Sgt. Joe Brockman, the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron Readiness and Emergency Management superintendent.

With 44 trucks and approximately 30 personnel, the IMAT brought cots, drinking water, blankets, meals, medical equipment and supplies.

The team began arriving at Travis AFB on Feb. 13, 2017.

“It was apparent there could be significant impacts,” said Victor Inge, the FEMA external affairs officer. “We were in touch with the state and deployed the IMAT. During incidents such as this we lean forward by pre-positioning commodities in the event there is a need.”

“Travis AFB is supporting the ISB by providing space, safety, security and communications assistance”, said Brockman. “Once the order came down, every squadron in the 60th Mission Support Group collaborated, ensuring the ISB setup was smooth and efficient.”

The 60th CES Emergency Management flight coordinated with wing leadership and regional emergency preparedness liaison officers to determine a suitable staging location for the ISB capable of supporting 300 tractor trailers and administrative space for FEMA personnel.

“The 60th Aerial Port Squadron provided a staging area for the ISB and kept wing leadership informed of the latest developments by monitoring and managing logistics requirements, the flow of personnel and requests for CES support,” Brockman said. “Additionally, the 60th Communications Squadron ensured the IMAT had wired and unhindered radio communications capabilities. The Travis Emergency Operations Center was also placed on alert to provide timely support to the ISB if needed.”

“We’re using Travis because of its strategic location and logistics capabilities,” Inge said.

An airlift base is inherently valuable for disaster support, especially if the disaster expands to a degree that enhanced defense support to civil authorities is required, said Brockman.

“Travis is an ideal location to support nearly any disaster nature can throw at us,” he said.

The state of California was granted three different major federal disaster declarations on Feb. 14. One was an emergency declaration, EM-3381-CA, which provides support for the Oroville Dam spillover, DR-4301-CA, is for public assistance for 34 counties and DR-4302-CA, is for public assistance for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, for damaged infrastructure repairs on their reservation.