Nicholas Emanuel FREEHOLD — Nicholas Emanuel of Freehold Borough has deployed to Joplin, Mo., as part of a local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planning and response team that has been tapped to support recovery efforts in southwest Missouri following the devastating tornado that struck there on May 22.
The corps has been assigned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the Critical Public Facilities mission there and will be responsible for managing the construction of temporary public facilities in areas where they have been destroyed or are unable to be repaired in a timely manner.
Emanuel, a contract specialist, will be responsible for managing rebuilding contracts as part of the team from the Army Corps’ New York District that has been assigned to carry out that Critical Public Facilities mission. At this early stage, the New York District team is meeting with officials to discuss the construction of temporary facilities for fire stations, schools and medical facilities in the affected areas, according to a press release.
“I was living in a beach house in Belmar for the summer, enjoying my life, when I found out about this opportunity to help the community of Joplin. I jumped on it because I know how fortunate I am, and I always look for opportunities to help people in need,” Emanuel said. “I feel great pride in the work we are doing here and by all of the volunteer efforts the people of Joplin will have their lives back.”
The last time the New York District planning and response team Emanuel is on deployed for an event of this nature was in 2008 after Hurricane Ike struck the Gulf Coast of Texas, though that was before Emanuel was with the Corps of Engineers.
When called upon, the Army Corps of Engineers carries out missions assigned by FEMAfollowing disasters as part of its responsibility for Emergency Support Function No. 3 (public works and engineering) as outlined in the National Response Framework.
The Critical Public Facilities mission assigned to the New York District is one of many emergency operations missions the Army Corps of Engineers is managing throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States, which is dealing with historic flooding and a series of devastating tornadoes, according to the press release.
Emanuel, a civilian with the Army Corps’ New York District, graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School in 2002 and has been a resident of Freehold Borough for most of his life.