REGION 2 BI-WEEKLY
              Vol. 2  Issue 17						Sept. 10, 2010
FACES OF THE REGION

Dr. Kelly Britt is the latest addition to Region II’s Mitigation Division. She is a DAE currently working as that division’s Historic Preservation Specialist. 

	Kelly is a Ph.D. graduate in anthropology from Columbia University and focused her research on historical archaeology in the northeast, mid-Atlantic and the Caribbean. Her historic preservation work has allowed Kelly to work in a variety of settings, including museums, academia and private cultural resource management firms, in addition to free lance projects and consulting. While still a graduate student, she worked at NY Unearthed, New York City’s only archaeological museum dedicated to the city’s archaeological past. She has taught a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate level at Columbia University, and at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. 

	Kelly has written several successful Network to Freedom designations for Underground Railroad sites in Pennsylvania and several articles and pieces on heritage tourism and community archaeology. This summer, her archaeological research brought her to Montserrat to assist with excavations at a 17th century sugar plantation.

	Kelly’s other passions lie in humanitarian causes, especially those focusing on housing and education.  She has led trips to Nicaragua, Mexico and Romania for Habitat for Humanity. In addition to her volunteer work, Kelly actively practices Anusara yoga, and is currently enrolled in a teacher training course. Her goal is to teach yoga in her spare time to children at risk, such as those in the juvenile detention system, and those in need, such as those who have suffered trauma in their lives.
REGION ROCKS; EARL FIZZLES
 First Level 1 Activation; 4 IMATs Fielded
	

	Two weeks ago today, Hurricane Earl was a Category 4 storm hurling toward the USVI. Region II’s primary IMAT, lead by Tom Fargione and FCO Phil Parr, was deployed and the team in place on St. Thomas within 24 hours.  Right, DCE Col. Robert Freehill confers with VITEMA official prior to planning meeting on Sept. 30th. IMAT Ops lead John Alonso is left.
	The Region’s response to Hurricane Earl activated more than 120 staffers and reservists. 
 .
  
	By Wednesday, the RRCC was operating 24/7 at Level 1, making the Hurricane Earl response the Region’s first such activation of the year, and the first with the forward-leaning IMAT response.
	In addition to the USVI, the Region also fielded an IMAT in Puerto Rico, lead by CAD Director Alex de la Campa and FCO Justo “Tito” Hernandez (see team briefing left); in New Jersey, an IMAT was lead by  FCO Bill Vogel, and in New York, FCO Albie Lewis put together a fourth Regional IMAT in advance of a projected Hurricane Earl landfall on eastern Long Island. 

THE EARL RESPONSE  continued….
								
Coordination defined the Earl response. From Sept. 1st through Sept. 3rd, all but three ESFs (2, 9 and 14) were activated and in the RRCC, participating in 10 conference calls daily. Right, the CAD team gathers for a storm update. External Affairs (ESF-15) was on 35 conference calls during that period. 

Neither the USVI nor Puerto Rico got hit with the full force of Hurricane Earl, which sputtered northwest toward the East Coast until a high pressure system from Canada bumped it back out to sea, sparring both the Jersey shore and the eastern end of Long Island.
The disaster scenario did not happen. Almost as good is the news of what did… Tropical force winds disrupted power to over 80% of St Thomas, including the Crowne Mountain Radio Tower site during the night of Aug. 31.  John Alonso and Sean Kielty of the Region II’s primary IMAT and Murad Raheem of Health and Human Services, brought two electric generators and their technical know-how to Crowne Mountain to restore the FEMA VHF Repeater there, which enables VHF emergency communications across the entire island.  Within an hour, they were able to restore full operations to not only the FEMA VHF repeater, but also the USCG VHF Repeater,  as well as the TSA VHF Repeater, enabling continuous operation of these critical DHS emergency communications systems until infrastructural power was restored the next day. 



AROUND THE REGION RGGION
Regional Administrator Lynn Canton, left, following the swearing in of the Region’s newest PFTs: Joe Asbery (Watch); Gilbert Joseph (PA); Craig Ketzak (PA); Iris Epsenhart (IA); and Maria Rodriguez (IA). Deputy RA Mike Moriarty is at extreme right.
Back to School
Region II is hosting nine External Affairs students as part of an EMI course that is required for External Affairs credentialing. Back row: James Kissell (R-3), Bob Lord (HQ), Betty Monroe (R-4), Ron Reynolds (R-7), Jim Sygitowicz (R-10), and Jane Bufkin (R-9) Front Row: Paul Lomartire (R-4), Kim Burgess (R-1), Pat Richards(R-8).


   	Congratulations