Governor Jim Pillen announced the mobilization of the Nebraska Telecommunicator Emergency Response Team (TERT) to assist North Carolina as it continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The group deployed on Friday, Oct. 4 to Buncombe County for 14 days. That county is one of the hardest hit locations from the storm.
“The hurricane catastrophically damaged communication systems in North Carolina, and this team is desperately needed to provide the kind of specialized 911 communications support that will ensure public safety,” said Gov. Pillen.
Deployment of the TERT members comes in response to a request received through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). EMAC is an interstate mutual aid agreement between all U.S. states and territories, which formalizes and streamlines the process for requesting needed resources in times of disaster. Nebraska has a strong history of deploying personnel and equipment to states and territories via EMAC for response and recovery support to hurricanes, wildfires, and other types of incidents.
The team received a thorough briefing before departure. Living conditions are hampered by power outages, flooding, debris, downed trees and sporadic cellular coverage. The team will be staying in a gymnasium, used to house other emergency responders, including TERTs from other states.
“The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) continues to monitor and review resource requests from impacted states via the EMAC system,” said Erv Portis, assistant director for NEMA. “We are constantly communicating with those state and local partners to assess Nebraska’s capacity to respond when those requests come in. We will be doing the same as Hurricane Milton makes its approach toward Florida in the coming days.”