DHS Under Secretary for Management Russell C. Deyo traveled to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) site in Glynco, Georgia, Friday, October 14, 2016, to view the damages from Hurricane Matthew and to thank staff for their support for the recovery mission.
Both the FLETC Glynco and Charleston, South Carolina, training sites suffered from hurricane strength winds, heavy rains, and flooding last Friday and Saturday, but FLETC prepared by enacting emergency action plans and coordinating with local emergency management agencies.
FLETC officials advised partner organization staff and students of the oncoming storm earlier in the week and both locations began evacuating students and staff on Wednesday night, October 5, 2016. Both locations closed beginning Thursday morning, October 6, 2016. At FLETC Glynco, more than 1,500 students were evacuated by their agencies. The remaining 76 students from Glynco were evacuated to a preplanned inland evacuation site in central Georgia.
Once the massive storm had passed, team members quickly went to work to evaluate the damage to the sites and begin recovery efforts.
First responders used FLETC Glynco as a staging center for hurricane recovery efforts for all of southeastern Georgia and northeastern Florida, while Georgia Power established a base camp for operation onsite for more than 900 workers. Approximately 100 Georgia National and Air National Guardsmen and 35 American Red Cross workers were able to stay in the empty Glynco dormitories.
FLETC Director Connie Patrick and Deputy Director William Fallon gave the Under Secretary a tour of the FLETC Glynco facility to survey the damages to the training venues. According to FLETC Director Patrick, getting training back online is the priority, and staff members are putting every effort into accomplishing that as quickly as possible.
During an all hands meeting at FLETC Glynco, the Under Secretary Deyo expressed his deep appreciation to those who volunteered to support the Glynco and Charleston facilities and the local communities in the aftermath of the massive storm.
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