SOUTHCOM deploys disaster assessment team to Nicaragua

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SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras (AFPN) --  A nine-member disaster assessment team and an Army CH-47 Chinook from Joint Task Force-Bravo based at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, deployed to Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, Sept. 5 to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Felix.

The team is comprised of engineering, communications and medics.

The deployment was directed by Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, in response to a request for international assistance from the Nicaraguan government and in close coordination with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.

JTF-Bravo, the only forward-deployed SOUTHCOM unit with permanently assigned servicemembers, is a first responder to crises in the region, and routinely conducts humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, search and rescue, personnel recovery and non-combatant medical evacuation operations.

SOUTHCOM military planners will continue to work with interagency partners and their counterparts in countries affected by Hurricane Felix to assess recovery needs in the affected areas and identify U.S. military units that may be able to provide assistance.

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