Incident and Logistics Help Headed to South Carolina in 3rd Week of Tennessee Deployments

Nashville, Tenn. – The State of Tennessee will deploy more emergency support teams this week to South Carolina this week to support response and recovery efforts as Carolinians are still facing hazardous conditions in Hurricane Florence’s aftermath.

“Tennesseans have answered the Carolina’s call and I’m proud our emergency management professionals continue to help where there is the most need,” said Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA).  “The importance of this compact and the ability for states to help each other in times of disaster cannot be overstated.” 

A four-person incident support team deployed today to Eastover, S.C. to provide command and control support for search and rescue operations.  The team includes firefighters from the Tennessee cities of Franklin, Goodlettsville, Kingsport, and LaVergne.  Tennessee’s incident support team will deploy for 14 days and be embedded with South Carolina’s firefighter mobilization unit.

On Tuesday, a five-person logistic support team will deploy to West Columbia, S.C. for a 14-day mission to coordinate the delivery of commodities into impacted South Carolina counties.  The logistics team includes emergency professionals from the cities of Knoxville, Mt. Juliet, and Sevierville, as well as Giles County and TEMA.

TEMA is coordinating Tennessee’s Hurricane Florence deployments through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), the nation’s state-to-state mutual aid system. 

This is the third week for the State of Tennessee to send emergency teams to the Carolinas.  Previous deployments have included 9-1-1 dispatchers, ambulance strike teams, communications personnel, emergency managers, emergency support coordinators, National Guard units, nurse strike teams, and swift-water rescue personnel.

About the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency: TEMA’s mission is to coordinate preparedness, response and recovery from man-made, natural and technological hazards in a professional and efficient manner in concert with our stakeholders. Follow TEMA on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and, at www.tn.gov/tema.

About ReadyTN:  ReadyTN is a mobile device application from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) providing emergency preparedness, response, and recovery information to Tennesseans.  Ready TN is available for mobile devices running Apple and Android operating systems.  For more information on ReadyTN’s features and on downloading, visit www.tn.gov/tema/ready-tn.html.

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