In 1992, when Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida, it became apparent that even with federal resources, states would need to call upon one another in times of emergencies. 

As a result, the Southern Governors' Association (SGA) coordinated with Virginia's Department of Emergency Services to develop a state-to-state mutual aid agreement: the Southern Regional Emergency Management Assistance Compact (SREMAC), which was adopted in 1993. 

Select the "Play" icon (in the image above) to hear about Hurricane Andrew's role in the development of EMAC.  

In January 1994, the SGA voted to “de-regionalize” the compact by striking the “Southern Regional” part from the name and opening the membership to all states---hence SREMAC evolved to become EMAC!

In 1995, the state leadership asked NEMA, the National Emergency Management Association, to administer the compact on behalf of the EMAC Member States.  Administration at that time was shared responsibility among the NEMA staff.

The first deployment of resources upon broadening SREMAC to EMAC was in 1995 when Mississippi deployed 25 personnel to Florida in response to Hurricane Opal.

Hurricane Bonnie made landfall as a borderline Category 2 - Category 3 storm with wind gusts of up to 104 mph.  Seventeen (17) personnel were deployed to assist North Carolina and Virginia.

Photo Credit:  NOAA

Hurricane Georges was a powerful Category 4 hurricane that made seven landfalls along its path. Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas requested resources.  In total, 54 resources were deployed through EMAC to assist.

Hurricane Georges making its final landfall on September 28 at 2043 UTC. This image was produced from data from NOAA-14, provided by NOAA. Georges made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane in Biloxi, Mississippi and it was still at Category 1 strength at the time this image was captured.  Photo Credit:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Georges

457 deployed including fire service, A-Teams, and National Guard resources were deployed through EMAC in response to Florida wildfires. 

Approximated numbers of personnel based upon data on personnel in brush trucks. Missing numbers include two National Guard Task Forces with costs totaling $666,776 where the # of PAX was not stated. 

Source:  EMAC Situation Reports dated October 7, 1998 in NEMA's archives.

Hurricane Floyd was a very powerful Category 4 hurricane that impacted several states, including North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida.

Through EMAC, 385 personnel were deployed in this response. 

Source: Situation reports NEMA's archives. Photo Credit: Hurricane Floyd making landfall in North Carolina on September 16th, 1999. Radar is long range base relectivity. Created using NCDC JAVA NEXRAD tool File created by Hello32020

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Floyd

Hurricane Isabel After Action Review dated January 6, 2004, credits 26 missions with 155 personnel deployed from 15 EMAC Member States in response to Hurricane Isabel.

Image: The eye of Hurricane Isabel approaches North Carolina's Outer Banks in this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image captured by the Terra satellite on September 18, 2003 at 11:55 am US Eastern time.

Photo Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC - http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=5868

The 2004 hurricane season was one of the most challenging periods in U.S. disaster response and recovery history. It tested Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) policies, plans, and procedures in circumstances heretofore unseen in scope, magnitude, intensity, and duration. Over a period of 85 days, 38 States deployed nearly 800 civilian personnel and 1200 National Guard personnel in the largest use of State-to-State mutual assistance in history.

Hear about the issues with accountability of personnel during the 2004 Hurricanes.

Download the 2004 EMAC AAR to learn more about the lessons learned and improvements that would soon come to the Compact.

The largest mutual aid deployment in our nation's history - the response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma lasted 215 consecutive days.  States deployed 67,000 personnel to Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) and Region IV and VI Regional Response Coordination Centers (RRCCs).  

Learn more by watching the "EMAC Response to Hurricane Katrina" video.

Download the 2005 EMAC AAR

Some interesting facts about the 2005 deployments include the following (from the 2005 EMAC After-Action Report):

• More than 1,300 search-and-rescue personnel from 16 states searched more than 22,300 structures and rescued 6,582 people.
• More than 2,000 healthcare professionals from 28 states treated more than 160,000 patients in the days and weeks after the storms under the most primitive of conditions.
• Nearly 3,000 fire/hazmat personnel from 28 states deployed.
• Two hundred engineers from nine states assisted.
• More than 6,880 sheriff's deputies and police officers from 35 states and countless local jurisdictions deployed across Louisiana and Mississippi—a total of 35% of all of the resources deployed.
• More than 100 animal rescue personnel from 4 states deployed; one team alone sheltered approximately 1,500 animals.

During the first two weeks of the 2005 response, personnel deploying through EMAC respresent approximately 53% of the total response (GAO-07-854 EMAC Report). Unfortunately, the vast majority of those deployed had never heard of EMAC and were not familiar with the EMAC Process. 

To engage the multitude of response and recovery disciplines, the EMAC Advisory Group was established in 1996, composed of the national organizations that have been or may be deployed through EMAC.  

In addition to updating procedures, the EMAC Operations System, and reimbursement guidance, states established enabling mechanisms and updated plans and procedures to include local resource providers. The EMAC Member States established training and exercise programs for EMAC and committed to educating all response and recovery personnel on EMAC so that mutual aid through EMAC can be effective and efficient. 

The 2007 California wildfires were a series of @ thirty wildfires across Southern California that destroyed over 1,500 homes and 970,977 acres of land between Santa Barbara County and the U.S. - Mexico border.  The wildfires killed 14 people and injured 160 (including 124 firefighters). 

Arizona deployed a 1 Type I Engine Strike Team (21 personnel) and New Mexico deployed 2 Type I Engine Strike Teams (42 personnel). Following the presidential declaration, resources were switched from an EMAC deployment to the Federal Wildland System (with the federal government picking up 100% of cost - 90/10 under EMAC).

Event Source Image Source: NASA satellite photo (provided by NSPO, Taiwan National Space Organization) from October 24, 2007, showing the active fire zones and smoke plumes. 

Forty-one states sent 12,279 personnel and 200,000 animal cages to Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, the Region IV RRCC, the Region VI RRCC, and the NRCC in response to the hurricanes. 

77% of resources were from the National Guard and 33% were state and local resources from agriculture and forestry, animal response, emergency management, fire, human services, law enforcement, and search and rescue. 

Photo Credit: This GOES satellite image from September 2 shows Gustav (over Texas), Hanna (in the Bahamas), and Ike. NASA/NOAA GOES Project

The 2011 catastrophic EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that hit Joplin, MO the late afternoon of May 22, 2011 reached a width of 1 mile wide, killing 158 and injuring 1,150 others.  St. John's Medical Center, one of two medical hospitals in Joplin, MO was completely destroyed from a direct hit by the tornado.  

Seventeen (17) missions with 118 personnel were deployed to Joplin, MO to support donations management, law enforcement, search and rescue, and public assistance.  

Photo Credit: NEMA

States deployed 1,130 personnel to the upper East Coast in response to Hurricane Irene & Tropical Storm Lee.

North Carolina had pre-scripted missions for deployment that were stood down after determining the path of the storm did not necessitate external resources. Download the EMAC After Action Report to learn more. 

• Connecticut - 5
• Delaware - 6
• Massachusetts - 9
• Maryland - 2
• Virginia - 8
• New Jersey - 155
• New York - 158 

97% Civilian (state and local)

3% National Guard

The February 2013 nor'easter (also called Winter Storm Nemo) caused heavy snowfall and hurricane force winds.  All New England states declared states of emergency.  Over 700,000 customers were without power and at least 18 deaths were attributed to the storm.  

Through EMAC, 161 personnel (89% National Guard and 11% civilian) were deployed through EMAC to assist.

Photo Credit:  NASA

The 18th National Boy Scout Jamboree held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia was supported with EMAC deployed resources through 5 missions with 44 personnel to support this national special security event.   

This was the first time in 30 years that the jamboree was not held at Fort A.P. Hill, a US Army installation that had hosted every jamboree since 1981. 

Photo Credit:  U.S. Department of Defense

164 personnel from 14 states (AL, AZ, CA, FL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MT, PA, SD, TN, UT, WY) completed 34 missions in Colorado in response to flooding that started in September 2013 and continued through March 2014. 

Resources ranged from search and rescue, hazard mitigation grant specialists, dam inspectors, road engineers, to public assistance.

Of the 164 personnel who responded, 67% were National Guard and 33% were civilian.

FEMA Administrator, Craig Fugate, Discusses Federal Support for EMAC and EMAC's role in federal preparedness.

(select the image to the left to play the video)

This epic 2005 hurricane season resulted in many lessons learned and improvements to our national mutual aid system:

• Reimbursement turnaround went from over a year to just a few weeks after receiving the reimbursement package
• Mission Ready Packages (MRPs) - specific response and recovery capabilities that are developed by Resource Providers, organized, trained, and exercised prior to an emergency or disaster are a key to speeding response
• Public Health and Medical templates for Mission Ready Packages (MRPs) - discipline specific templates that focuses on the most frequently requested resources
• Development of the Mutual Aid Support System – a free online GIS inventory of Mission Ready Packages for Resource Providers and State Emergency Management Agencies
• Establishment and maintenance of the EMAC Advisory Group to ensure disciplines are integrated into the EMAC response – with membership from response and recovery organizations across the nation
• Training has grown from two courses to seven and an EMAC app for deploying personnel to receive just in time training
• Improvements in accountability of deployed personnel

The 2017 hurricane season was the fifth most active season in recorded history (to date). Over 45 states deployed 16,556 responders to support EMAC missions during Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. 

The critical role EMAC plays in disaster response is apparent from the response numbers. EMAC is the backbone of the nation's mutual aid system.

During the events, EMAC leadership identified some key areas for improvement most notably changing the EMAC paperwork process from 3 parts to 2.  

The proposed change was voted upon at the March 2018 NEMA Forum and it was agreed upon by all of the NEMA membership to retire the EMAC Request for Assistance Form (REQ-A) and replace it with a two part Resource Support Agreement (RSA). 

This change impacted all EMAC documents, training courses, and documents. The updated EMAC Operations System (EOS 3.0) was completed in 2019 making EMAC response even faster! 

Download the 2017 After Action Report 

Photo Credit:  NOAA

The 2017 California wildfires were some of the most destructive in history with 9,560 fires burning 1,548,429 acres of land. California reported 47 people - 45 civilians and 2 firefighters were killed by the fires. 

The fires were fueled by the strong Santa Ana winds.

States sent 1,795 personnel and equipment (firefighters and incident management teams) to assist. 

Image credit: NASA

The 2018 California wildfires were the deadliest and most destructive in California's history - surpassing the records set in 2017. 

A total of 103 confirmed fatalities, 24,226 structures damaged or destroyed, and 8,527 fires burning destroying 1,975,086 acres.

The Carr Fire, Woosley Fire and Camp Fire which destroyed the town of Paradise will forever be etched in history. Deployments in support of the 2018 California wildfire season included National Guard, firefighters, mass care, volunteer and donations management, public assistance and forensics - 1,295 personnel and equipment. Download the AAR from the 2018 and 2019 California Wildfires. 

Video Credit: Frontline. PBS. 

The Diablo and Santa Ana winds were again a factor in the 2019 California wildfire season in October and December. Six states (ID, OR, MT, WA, UT, NM) sent 641 firefighters with equipment to assist in containing some of the 7,860 fires that burned 259,823 acres of land. 

Download the AAR from the 2018 and 2019 California Wildfires. 

Photo credit:  NOAA satellite image

Starting on December 28, 2019, and progressing into 2021, the southwestern part of the island of Puerto Rico was struck by a series of earthquakes including 11 that were of magnitude 5 or greater.

Seven states (CA, OH, NY, NM, NJ, LA, NC ) sent 489 personnel including National Guard, building inspectors, mass care, law enforcement, geologists and more to assist.

Photo credit: Map of southwestern Puerto Rico and its offshore area showing topography taken from the NOAA DEM Color Shaded Relief layer with the location of active faults taken from Bruna et al. 2015 and Mann et al. 2005 and epicentres of earthquakes of the 2019-2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence taken from ANSS

 Tropical Storm Marco hit Louisiana on August 24 as a tropical storm and Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana on August 27 as a major hurricane. 

 Search and rescue, building inspectors, mass care, National Guard, Department of Transportation resources, incident management teams and more to assist (400 personnel with equipment and supplies). Thank you to Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington). 

 Photo credit: By National Hurricane Center - Hurricane Laura 2020 graphics archive, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93526218

The 2020 Oregon wildfire season was one of Oregon's most destructive on record. The fires killed at least 11 people, burned more than 1,000,000 acres of land and destroyed thousands of homes. Firefighters, public information officers, EOC manager, logistics support, volunteer and donations management, GIS support, human services, communications and more from 36 states deployed 238 personnel.

Photo credit: By Phoenix7777 - Own workData source: MODIS Active Fire Detections for CONUS (2020), Geospatial Technology and Applications Center, U.S. Forest Service, USDAShapefile: modis_fire_2020_272_conus_shapefile.zip (Initial upload) Map: Open Street Map, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94637991

The 2020 California wildfires were again a record setting year with 9,639 fires burning 4,397,809 acres. A combination of a record-breaking heat wave and strong katabatic winds (including the Jarbo, Diablo, and Santa Ana) caused rapid fire growth.

14 states deployed 787 personnel to assist in the wildfire response (National Guard, firefighters, equipment). 

Image credit: Christopher Michel https://www.flickr.com/photos/cmichel67/50324416696/

55 Members Strong and 25 Years of Saving Lives and minimizing the impact to the economy and the environment. We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has deployed on an EMAC mission and everyone who works behind the scenes to make EMAC work. This video celebrates EMAC's 25 years!