Metro Nashville Water Deploys for Florida Keys Recovery Mission

Nashville, Tenn. – The State of Tennessee is deploying a team from Metro Nashville Water Services to Florida today to repair and restore water supply lines in Key West and Key Largo severely damaged as a result of Hurricane Irma.

 

“All of Florida is still facing dire conditions from Hurricane Irma’s impact,” said Director Patrick Sheehan of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA). “Power restoration and petroleum supplies are of significant concern, and many survivors cannot reach their homes due to debris and flooding. We are proud we can call upon the experience and expertise of Metro Nashville Public Works professionals, who have faced perilous recovery operations in the aftermath of natural disasters themselves, to help restore a necessary life resource and return some normalcy to the lives of Floridians.”

 

The 27-member team of Metro Water employees will spend 11 days in Florida repairing water lines along the Florida Keys Aqueduct which services almost 50,000 customers in the Florida Keys. The team will operate from Marathon, Fla.

 

“The men and women of Metro Water Services are vital to our city’s day-to-day success, and their work will go a long way toward helping residents of the Florida Keys regain some sense of order in their lives,” Mayor Megan Barry said. “Metro Water Services played a critical role in Nashville’s recovery from the 2010 flood. I’m glad they can now help another community in its time of need.”

 

TEMA is coordinating the deployment of the Metro Nashville Public Works team through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).

 

Previous EMAC deployments from Tennessee in support of Hurricane Irma response and recovery operations have included five ambulance strike teams, two public health incident management teams, an urban search and rescue team, and a nurse strike team, which is still conducting shelter support operations in Naples, Fla.

 

Also ongoing, the Tennessee Army National Guard personnel and helicopters have deployed to the U.S. Virgin Islands to support disaster operations, and Tennessee Air National Guard personnel are deployed in Florida to help sustain the state’s communications infrastructure.

 

 

TEMA also coordinated both National Guard missions through EMAC.

 

About the Emergency Management Assistance Compact: EMAC is a nationally adopted mutual aid agreement that is law in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and

Guam. EMAC was ratified by the U.S. Congress in 1996 (Public Law 104-321). Through EMAC, state emergency management agencies are able to share resources with one another during times of

emergency and disaster. Learn more about EMAC at www.emacweb.org.

 

About the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency: TEMA’s mission is to coordinate preparedness, response and recovery from man-made, natural and technological hazards in a

professional and efficient manner in concert with our stakeholders. Follow TEMA on, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and, at www.tn.gov/tema.