State emergency management officials have begun preparing to send personnel, aircraft, trucks and other equipment to the Gulf Coast, which is bracing for the arrival of two hurricanes – Gustav and Hanna.
Two Kansas Department of Emergency Management employees left for Jackson, Miss., today and three more will depart Saturday. They will be assisting in the State Emergency Operations Center, authorities reported.
Officials are also anticipating requests to provide shelter and food for hundreds of people who will be displaced by the storms.
“We learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina,” Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general and director of the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, said in a prepared statement. “One key lesson was ‘Get ahead of the curve.’ Even though the hurricane isn’t projected to hit until Tuesday, we’re getting equipment ready and alerting personnel of the potential need to be available to respond.”