Late in August of 2011, Hurricane Irene made landfall on American soil three times. Hurricane Irene was responsible for 56 deaths and a total of $10-15 billion worth of damage in the US. Hurricane Irene had winds recorded as high as 120mph and reached a 942mbar.
Late on August 25, 2011, A-TEC was once again contacted and notified for
support in preparations for Hurricane Irene. Around 0200 on August 26, 2011, A-TEC deployed one ALS and two BLS ambulances and our support truck and trailer as requested by FEMA heading to New York. FEMA requested a total of 175 ambulances for extra support in their efforts prior the storm. After checking in with FEMA at Stewart Air National Guard Base outside of New York City, A-TEC’s joined up with two outside ambulances and were sectioned off to Long Beach Island area.
On August 26, 2011, New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, declared the Long Beach Island area under a state of emergency. They notified residents that there was a mandatory evacuation of that area starting at 0800 on the 26th. Shortly after the governor declared the State of Emergency, President Barack Obama followed it up, declaring it a Federal State of Emergency. With these announcements, the government deployed over 2,000 National Guard Troops to the New York City area, shut down all public transportation in the low laying areas, set up safe and secure tents for evacuates and accepted help from outside the area. In these plans, there were at least 6 hospitals that were evacuated and 16 nursing homes also evacuated.
Over the next five days, A-TEC aided in the evacuation of Long Beach Hospital and Komanoff Center for Geriatric, medical assistance at the first aid tent and emergency response support for surrounding fire departments.
After Hurricane Irene past, as a Tropical Storm, A-TEC aided in the repopulation of these facilities. After the repopulation of these facilities was completed, all ambulances were returned home by FEMA.