With Hurricane Irene bearing down on the East Coast, California is lending a helping hand by deploying experts trained in search and rescue, emergency operations, planning and logistics to help with state and local emergency response efforts.

“We're hoping for the best for all of those in the path of Hurricane Irene and we urge residents to take this storm seriously,” said California Emergency Management Agency Acting Secretary Mike Dayton.

“California stands ready to provide assistance to our sister states as they prepare for this natural disaster,” said Dayton. “We're appreciative of the help we received in the past and are glad to provide help in their time of need.”

In anticipation of the storm's impact, several eastern states have requested assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a congressionally ratified agreement that provides form and structure to interstate mutual aid.

Through Emergency Management Assistance Compact, Cal EMA is in discussions with New York state to deploy possibly six emergency service coordinators with experience in Emergency Operation Centers and an Incident Management Team to assist in emergency response, remaining there until the situation stabilizes.

The Incident Management Team is the Easy Bay Type 3 Incident Management Team and consists of 36 first responders from Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Expenses for the deployment will be covered by the states requesting assistance. Cal EMA will be in constant contact with emergency management staff on the East Coast for future requests.

California has also deployed several members to form an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. These are common requested organized by FEMA and have responded to various disasters around the world.

California Task Force members deployed to the east coast include one member from CA-TF6 (Riverside), two members from CA-TF2 (Los Angeles), three members from CA-TF8 (San Diego).

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