MFC IMT activated to help in Hurricane Ida response and recovery

The Mississippi Forestry Commission’s (MFC) Incident Management Team (IMT) was mobilized to assist in response and recovery operations to support affected Mississippi Counties following Hurricane Ida. 11 team members from various parts of the state arrived Saturday at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg. The IMT will be assisting MEMA by running the state staging area (SSA) to receive and distribute commodities to points of distribution (POD’s) set up by county officials.

In addition to wildfire suppression, this is another situation our personnel is trained for. The IMT is organized using the nationally recognized National Incident Management System (NIMS), and with this extensive training, the team will be providing organizational structure to help improve efficeincy and effectiveness of relief operations.

Russell Bozeman, MFC state forester

The MFC IMT is in the process of receiving truckloads of commodities, including water, tarps, generators, and food and will handle logistics related to the delivery of these supplies to distribution centers in the affected areas. The IMT will remain deployed as long as they are needed.

We are proud to be able to provide an experienced incident management team to assist other first responders in getting impacted communities the assistance they need in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

The MFC IMT is a collaboration of MFC employees who perform various tasks related to incident response. The IMT trains and responds statewide to disaster events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires. The IMT also conducts training exercises, such as the MFC Heavy Equipment Academy, for MFC employees.