CDP staffers helping with hurricane relief efforts
CDP Staffer Kasey Luallen registers Hurricane Michael survivors for FEMA assistance in south Georgia.
Nearly 20 CDP staffers are continuing to support hurricane relief efforts across the Southeast.
A number of center employees were called up in early September, when Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 90 mph.
A number of others were called up in early October, when Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with winds near 155 mph.
Most of the staffers are deployed ‘in place,’ supporting FEMA’s Personnel Mobilization Center, which is located on the CDP campus and which preps FEMA personnel for deployment to disaster areas.
However, a number of the employees are on the front lines in either North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia or Florida.
Kasey Luallen, who has been working on a Disaster Survivor Assistance team in Cordele, Ga., explained that the days for those deployed are extremely long, especially for those directly “Registering survivors and canvassing neighborhoods for damage.”
However, she said, the work is nonetheless rewarding.
“Everyone is so happy to see FEMA,” she said.