Answering the Call from the Frontlines of Disasters

Whenever there are man-made or natural disasters anywhere in the continental U.S. or its territories, WSP’s Federal Programs Emergency Management team goes into action as an essential part of the federal government’s response to these events.

From hurricanes and typhoons, to tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and other extreme events, WSP hauls, installs, maintains, repairs and de-installs generators and emergency power for facilities deemed critical to the disaster response and recovery. These can include hospitals, police and fire stations, nursing homes, pump stations, water treatment facilities and some government office buildings.

Since 2013, that has been the scope of WSP’s contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This past December, as in 2018, WSP was awarded individual five-year contracts for each of USACE’s four U.S. quadrants, which include all 10 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) regions in the U.S. and its territories. 

USACE works under the direction of FEMA to support state and local governments in responding to major disasters. FEMA provides the funding and the generators. USACE manages the contractors and the contracts.

“As long as we’ve been doing this work, we’ve underscored that WSP is onsite anywhere for disaster response, with the full support of our entire team,” said Tim Jamison, vice president, Federal Programs at WSP and emergency management operations lead.

The team of more than 70 professionals includes military veterans, former firefighters and government employees, plus others with construction management and business backgrounds. WSP’s commitment is to be onsite within 24 hours of being notified of an order to deploy, wherever disaster strikes.

On average, WSP responds to 10-to-15 disaster requests a year under these contracts. Many are pre-disaster missions to proactively position assets ahead of an event’s impact. Typically, about four-to-six missions result in actual facility assessments, generator deployment and installs. Often, deployments can involve different overlapping disasters, as well as events or storms that impact multiple states, regions or quadrants. So, it’s not uncommon for WSP to have multiple teams deployed in many different locations at the same time.

“FEMA is becoming more proactive ahead of hurricanes and sending us to a location in advance of a storm’s landfall,” Jamison said. “This enables our team to set up a staging area in advance and better prepare for the work that will be needed after the storm passes.”

In recent years, WSP emergency response teams were deployed to hard-hit areas including Florida, Texas and Mississippi after hurricanes; wildfire responses in California and New Mexico; Kentucky, following deadly tornadoes; and South Dakota to assist tribal communities trapped by record snowfall.

WSP teams also have deployed outside the continental U.S. to Saipan, American Samoa and multiple locations in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Recent deployments have included Guam, following Super Typhoon Mawar; and the 2023 Maui wildfires in Hawaii.

“I am often heard to say, and what has become a team motto, is that WSP stands for ‘We Serve People.’ This team embodies what service and assistance to others looks like,” said Todd Semonite, president of Federal Programs at WSP. “Time and again, they are called on to respond to disasters, often in the harshest of conditions. This work is so important and it’s the essential first step in the long process of restoring some normalcy to the lives of those who were impacted.”

“Emergency response is not a regular 9-to-5 job,” said Tom Oliver, assistant vice president of Federal Programs at WSP. “It takes a special kind of person to leave their home and family to assist others. We do this work without hesitation, while knowing the areas we’re deploying to can be severely impacted.”

Oliver has been on the team almost 11 years and has been involved with more than 50 deployments. “Each disaster presents a new issue we have to overcome, even in areas we’ve deployed to in the past,” he added.

The Hurricane Maria recovery mission lasted more than a year because of the devastation that deadly storm left in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. As Hurricane Ian’s path became more certain, WSP deployed two teams from an initial staging area in Alabama to two locations in south Florida. After Hurricane Ian passed, two more teams were deployed.

“The logistical effort of moving four teams, consisting of hundreds of personnel and pieces of equipment, while also ensuring the health and safety of our team on the ground, was immense,” Jamison said.

“The first 24-to-48 hours, as we establish onsite operations, are the hardest,” added Hobie Price, assistant vice president, emergency management at WSP. He was a construction manager prior to joining the firm and has been with the team nearly 12 years.

He said this work puts life into perspective. “It’s an opportunity to make a difference for people who have lost a lot in a disaster.”

Shannon McKinney is a Navy veteran who serves as recovery business line lead at WSP. Most of her focus is on contract compliance and development, plus client relations. She said the excitement of figuring out solutions to odd situations is what draws her to this work.

“You must always prepare for the ‘what ifs,’ so, as a team, we’re focused on working around the challenges that we face on deployments,” McKinney said. “One of the easiest parts is working on innovative solutions to make our teams knowledgeable, informed and able to provide seamless transitions.”

“No matter how much planning we do, emergency management isn’t perfect, so we’re constantly coming up with solutions on the ground,” said Craig DeCesare, manager of health and safety at WSP. An Army veteran, he joined the team in 2018, during the deployment for Hurricane Maria.

“That entire island was blacked out with no electricity,” DeCesare added. “That’s about three million people impacted.” He was also part of the team that deployed to Puerto Rico in 2020, after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake left most of the island without power again.

“You will often hear us say that no two deployments are alike,” said Justin Stellflug, lead consultant emergency management at WSP. “On each one, we’re faced with many difficult challenges.” A retired Air Force veteran, he brings logistics, environmental and safety expertise to the team.

“The easiest part is getting up and going to work every day,” Stellflug said. “When deployed, our team works around the clock to assist impacted communities until stable power returns. Just knowing the difference we’re making in people’s lives makes it all worthwhile.”

In addition to its emergency deployments, WSP has developed a partnership with USACE that includes monthly touchpoint meetings, and investments in the team for training and preparedness, including an application that replaced a paper-based system for tracking work.

WSP, in collaboration with the firm’s development partner, ProceMX, automated much of that process with a digital solution that equips field personnel with computer tablets, so they can scan-in assets, equipment and people, plus assign and complete work on the generators in real time. The application manages all field data to produce daily reports that are provided to the client.

Because it’s digital, it cuts in half the amount of administrative time needed to get a generator into the field. WSP added GPS capability, so the team can watch a generator leave the yard and follow it to where it’s being installed to provide needed power after a disaster. 

“From beginning to end, WSP’s focus is on delivering consistency,” Jamison said. “Our success is based on our ability to deliver and execute these disaster responses in a very dependable, professional and highly visible manner. The reward for our team is seeing the look of relief on the faces of those we are there to help.”

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