CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Another team of disaster responders is heading to Kentucky to help with the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes that struck the state earlier this month.
The Hampton Roads Incident Management Team (HRIMT) is based in Chesapeake and is deploying two members to the area:
- A firefighter from the Newport News Fire Department as a Planning Section Specialist/Trainee
- A Disaster Assistance Specialist from the Chesapeake Fire Department as a Logistics Section Chief
Justin Weston, the team’s planning section specialist, said this is his first deployment with the team but he said his military background prepared him for this role.
“It’s very similar to that aspect," Weston said. "It’s one of the things that drew me in.”
On the other hand, Logistics Section Chief George Woodruff has a few deployments under his belt.
“I spent a month and a half in Richmond for the Black Lives Matter protests, then spend three weeks up in Rappahannock with the health district,” Woodruff said.
It's part of a statewide effort with the Incident Management Team, with eight people total from different emergency agencies across Virginia heading to Kentucky on Thursday. In addition to the two HRIMT members, the team is comprised of members from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and two other incident management teams based out of Fairfax and Chesterfield counties.
Skip Hibner, the program manager for HRIMT, said the Virginia team will relieve a New York team already responding.
"And then we’ll assume command and control coordination with the local authorities, state authorities, and FEMA,” Hibner said
Planning personnel will help take care of all paperwork and operations teams will assist with distribution or conduct damage assessments.
“We’ll actually be managing all the logistics to support the team and the locals which can range from ordering things from the federal government through FEMA to going to the local grocery store and feeding a crew out there,” Hibner said.
The team will also be providing logistical, communications, and IT equipment such as computers, cellular and satellite communications, and other office facilities.
Hibner said the overall goal is to help communities in Kentucky and gain more skills to better respond to disasters in Hampton Roads.
“The experience that we’re going to gain is invaluable," Hibner said. "They will bring that back to their agencies and help their agencies be prepared.”
On Friday, emergency officials announced two more team members from Virginia Beach would also be deployed:
- One is a member of the Virginia Beach Fire Department and will fill the position of Operations Section Chief.
- The second is from Virginia Beach Emergency Management and will fill the position of Planning Section Chief.
At least 77 people died in Kentucky -- and more than 90 people died in five states -- when at least 41 tornadoes touched down on December 10 and 11.
The deployment team is expected to return to Virginia on January 14, 2022.