Emergency Management Office

Overview

Every year, the Corps sends hundreds of people to respond to disasters around the world. In 2009, hundreds have responded to one or more of 17 major disaster declarations as a result of floods and severe winter storms from Hawaii to Maine, North Dakota to Mississippi, and many states in between. In 2008, nearly 900 Corps employees were engaged in emergency support missions. When disasters occur, it is not just a local Corps district or office that responds. Personnel and other resources are mobilized across the country to carry out our response missions.

In any disaster, Corps of Engineers three top priorities are:

1. Support immediate emergency response priorities.
2. Sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs.
3. Initiate recovery efforts by assessing and restoring critical infrastructure.

Flood Control & Coastal Emergencies

The Corps provides technical and direct assistance to communities to reduce risk to the public, property or the environment, with the emphasis on public safety under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act, often called Public Law 84-99. The law gives the Corps the authority to provide a range of assistance - technical assistance, supplies and equipment, emergency contracting, strengthening flood control works, creating temporary levees, channel clearance, dam failure relief, levee rehabilitation and participation in an intergovernmental levee task force.