With the 2014 hurricane season upon us, 10 critical facilities throughout Chesapeake, Gloucester County and James City County can rest easier knowing their emergency power needs have been accurately documented.
A partnership formed last fall between the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 51Ç鱨վ student and faculty assets, and the Hampton Roads Emergency Management Committee provided communities a clearer picture of their critical facility emergency power needs - at no cost.
Under the partnership agreement, 51Ç鱨վ seniors majoring in computer and electrical engineering conducted the emergency power assessments.
Cost estimates to provide these critical emergency power assessments range from $3,000 per facility for an electrical engineer to slightly less for an electrician, said Robb Braidwood, Chesapeake Emergency Management deputy coordinator and the project's brainchild.
"Smaller communities throughout Hampton Roads don't always have the budget to conduct proper emergency power need assessments of their critical facilities," Braidwood said. "By leveraging college students for this task, localities here obtained much-needed facility assessments while 51Ç鱨վ senior students gained valuable hands-on experience."
When the magnitude of a disaster is beyond the capabilities of state and local governments to manage, the federal government is called in. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is one of more than 100 federal departments and agencies that provide assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
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