EPLOs supporting Mississippi River flood response effort

Published May 13, 2011
By Angela Pope
AFNORTH Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Over the past few weeks, flooding along the Mississippi River has disrupted lives and commerce, and now the next threat is to several parishes in Louisiana.

In an effort to help save lives and mitigate great property damage, the Air Forces Northern National Security Emergency Preparedness Directorate has deployed two emergency preparedness liaison officers in response to flooding in Louisiana.

Although the river is not projected to crest until May 22 in Louisiana, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is contemplating a slow release of the Morganza Spillway north of Baton Rouge, to alleviate massive flooding over multiple locations; however, the potential still exists for extensive flooding within those parishes near the spillway.

The EPLOs will be assigned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Region VI Defense Coordinating Element. One EPLO is assigned to FEMA's Regional Response Coordination Center in Denton, Texas, while the other is assigned to the Initial Operating Facility in Baton Rouge. The EPLO's skills, experience and knowledge of USAF capabilities will assist in determining the right resources if Department of Defense assets are requested by civilian authorities to support the response within the flooded areas.

"When a natural disaster occurs, local officials are initially in charge of the response effort. If the disaster becomes as catastrophic as this flood, FEMA typically steps in and takes the lead," said Michael Thornal, NSEP. "Our EPLOs deploy to the scene to augment the local and federal officials and to advise them of the resources AFNORTH can provide to aid in the response."

The EPLOs are slated to be in Texas and Louisiana for 10 days, but they will stay longer if warranted.

"We have been monitoring the flood and began preparing to provide assistance when we learned how bad it was going to get," Mr. Thornal said. "Once AFNORTH was asked for support, we briefed our EPLOs and got them on site as soon as possible."

NSEP is prepared to deploy additional EPLOs to other states and regions if tasked.

Air Force EPLOs are senior Air Force Reserve officers who are subject matter experts in state and regional disaster response plans, advising states and regions on Air Force capabilities that may be used during disaster responses.

EPLOs are geographically assigned to each state and the 10 FEMA Regional Response Coordination Centers. The officers come from a wide range of career fields including air operations, logistics, medical, security forces and public affairs.