Agency personnel and assets from across nation contribute to response
After Hurricane Florence made landfall, forcing millions to evacuate, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel and assets are responding by land, air and sea. CBP personnel from across the country are launching a massive response from locations in the Southeastern United States and mid-Atlantic.
coast shows homes, forests and roads
inundated with water making
transportation impossible.
Air and Marine Operations (AMO) deployed multiple fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft to aid in search and recovery missions, transport supplies and support relief operations and assessments. AMO Intrepid vessel crews are also in Raleigh, N.C., ready to assist in coastline and barrier island rescues once Florence passes, and CBP has staged more shallow water vessels to respond as needed.
Meanwhile, the Border Patrol deployed 50 agents from the Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue Team (BORSTAR) to Wilmington, N.C. to conduct assessments of CBP facilities and welfare checks on CBP personnel. Agents will also conduct swift water rescue operations. Another 25 agents from the Mobile Response Team arrived in Kinston, N.C. to support FEMA with public safety missions and seven agents are working at the Forward Deployed Operations Command Center in Charleston, S.C.
CBP has spent the last week preparing equipment and pre-positioning assets in key areas. At the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Emergency Operations Center is coordinating CBP’s efforts internally as well as externally with other federal, state and local partners. To coordinate the large response to the storm, CBP set up an Emergency Operations
Center at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C.
before departing Manassas, Virginia for
Hurricane Florence response efforts.
Currently, CBP has staged Forward Deployed Operations Command Centers in Charleston, S.C., Wilmington, N.C. and Morehead City, N.C.
“CBP has prepositioned resources so impacted areas can get assistance as soon as conditions allow,” said CBP Emergency Operations Center Chief Dario Lugo. “In addition, CBP has a team of professionals with extensive hurricane response experience.”
CBP also began to resume business operations as they processed a cruise ship in Charleston, South Carolina today.
Border Patrol agents and watercraft, including Riverine Shallow Draft Vessels and personal watercraft, have deployed from the southwest and northern borders to staging locations near the projected affected areas. In addition to deployed personnel, Border Patrol agents and CBP officers are also on standby to join the effort as well as the Surge Capacity Force. CBP is also working closely with federal, state, and local agencies to include Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard.
base with personnel and equipment.
According to the Army Corps of Engineers, rivers in North Carolina will continue to rise from 20 to 30 feet at least until Friday.
Several ports and CBP operations in North and South Carolina and Georgia closed ahead of the storm:
- Ports of Wilmington and Morehead City in North Carolina, and the Ports of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina ceased operations.
- CBP’s Field Operations Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, is closed.
As of this afternoon, CBP suspended services at international airports in Wilmington, North Carolina. CBP services are still available at Charlotte, Greenville/Spartanburg, and Raleigh-Durham international airports.