Army Corps teams help remove debris, restore power

The Army Corps of Engineers has sent 151 employees from across the country to New York to help clean up the debris and rubble from last week's attacks by terrorists, according to an agency spokesman. The employees will join more than 700 Army Corps employees already there. The new contingent of Army Corps employees, who specialize in structural analysis, the removal of debris and restoring electrical power, will help with cleanup at the site of the World Trade Center. The employees joined the Army Corps' 737 employees from the agency's New York district office and the North Atlantic division's headquarters office, which is located in New York City. All Army Corps personnel stationed in New York are safe and accounted for, said agency spokesman Lt. Col. Gene Pawlik. Army Corps employees who specialize in building structures are helping the city evaluate some of its more complicated structural analysis problems. "Some are also trained in urban search and rescue, which enables them to go into the area and help determine whether or not it's safe for rescuers to be there," Pawlik said. Other Army Corps employees sent to New York are helping the city remove debris and are assessing the reliability of energy power grids. Pawlik said 31 engineers from the Corps' 249th Battalion are helping to install power generators throughout New York, particularly in the financial district, where the attacks occurred. Army Corps employees are also helping to remove debris at the Pentagon. Shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center, seven of the Army Corps boats stationed in New York helped shuttle 2,000 people out of Manhattan to Brooklyn, Staten Island and Jersey City, N.J., Pawlik said. "People had no other way out [except by boat]," he said. The same boats also brought emergency and disaster response personnel back in to Manhattan to aid victims. Under the government's Federal Response Plan, the Army Corps is responsible for helping to remove debris and for providing engineering services and emergency power. The plan, which involves 28 other federal agencies and the American Red Cross, provides guidance for dealing with potential terrorist threats and incidents. Pawlik said Army Corps chief Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers visited the World Trade Center site last week in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Pawlik said Army Corps personnel who have gone to the site, including Flowers, have been amazed at the area's devastation, but also at the courage and tenacity of New Yorkers. Pawlik said Army Corps employees from across the country, including public affairs officers, have volunteered to go to New York to help in the disaster relief effort. "Employees with a range of specialties have stepped forward and said they are ready to go and do whatever is needed," he said.