CTWG: Hurricane Earl Press Release #1

Connecticut’s Civil Air Patrol members mobilize in advance for possible role in state wide hurricane disaster relief

August 31, 2010 (Middletown, CT) – This week, Connecticut’s Civil Air Patrol members began preparing for possible deployment should the North East Region Area Command, working in cooperation with the Federal and State Emergency Management Agencies (FEMA) and the 1st Air Force National Security Emergency Preparedness Agency (AFNSEP) activate them to support disaster relief missions related to Hurricane Earl. Earl is currently a category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 135 MPH and is located east of the Caribbean islands moving north east in the direction of the eastern seaboard. In at least one scenario, it is expected to brush by the North East by the end of this week.

Should repositioning of Connecticut’s CAP air and ground assets be required, Connecticut’s aircraft and ground rescue teams will prepare to stage outside of hurricane Earl’s path. Should they be activated, preparing these multi-purpose resources will ensure the fastest possible post-storm assistance by Connecticut Wing pilots, aircrew, ground search teams and leadership staff, all with critical personal knowledge of their local areas.

The Civil Air Patrol is a multi-capability organization, often tasked with storm related missions that include air and ground search and rescue, disaster center services, searching for stranded survivors, monitoring of evacuation routes, digital imagery assessments of storm related flooding and critical infrastructure impacts, transportation of critical personnel, medicines, materials and supplies.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 59,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and saves an average of 80 lives per year. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 24,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 69 years. For more information on CAP, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com, or the Connecticut Wing at www.ctwg.cap.gov.

Additional Connecticut Wing Press Releases will be released as conditions develop. If you have any questions, please contact the Public Affairs Office.