Navy readies three local ships for Sandy clean-up
The Navy is sending three of its Hampton Roads-based amphibious ships up to the hurricane-hit New York area Wednesday to be ready to help with response efforts there if needed, a Navy official in Norfolk said.
“We are essentially trying to put them in a good position, so if we are tasked to offer some kind of response support we can do so in a timely fashion,” said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are leading the disaster response efforts and will determine whether they can utilize the Navy’s assistance, the official said.
New York and New Jersey took the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall Monday night with full hurricane strength after sweeping up the Atlantic East Coast over the weekend, kicking up a surge and blowing winds onshore upwards of 50 miles per hour.
The storm killed at least 50 people and knocked out power to more than 8 million homes in 17 states. In New York alone, 2 million homes were without power, entire streets were under water and New York City Subway tunnels were suffered the worst damage in metro system’s history. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for two days in the inundated New York City financial district and only reopened Wednesday.
FEMA is still assessing the extent of the damage from the storm, which has been described as the most devastating in decades.
If needed, the three Navy ships will already be close by and at the ready.
The official did not name the ships involved but said one was already out to sea to ride out the storm and was heading north. The other two were preparing to leave Norfolk today.
Source: http://hamptonroads.com/Navy readies three local ships for Sandy clean-up
The Navy is sending three of its Hampton Roads-based amphibious ships up to the hurricane-hit New York area Wednesday to be ready to help with response efforts there if needed, a Navy official in Norfolk said.
“We are essentially trying to put them in a good position, so if we are tasked to offer some kind of response support we can do so in a timely fashion,” said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are leading the disaster response efforts and will determine whether they can utilize the Navy’s assistance, the official said.
New York and New Jersey took the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall Monday night with full hurricane strength after sweeping up the Atlantic East Coast over the weekend, kicking up a surge and blowing winds onshore upwards of 50 miles per hour.
The storm killed at least 50 people and knocked out power to more than 8 million homes in 17 states. In New York alone, 2 million homes were without power, entire streets were under water and New York City Subway tunnels were suffered the worst damage in metro system’s history. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for two days in the inundated New York City financial district and only reopened Wednesday.
FEMA is still assessing the extent of the damage from the storm, which has been described as the most devastating in decades.
If needed, the three Navy ships will already be close by and at the ready.
The official did not name the ships involved but said one was already out to sea to ride out the storm and was heading north. The other two were preparing to leave Norfolk today.
Source: http://hamptonroads.com/
