More Missouri Help Heads East
***UPDATE MONDAY 9:13 P.M.***Officials with the Boone County Fire Protection District say Missouri Task Force 1 could be demobilized as soon as Tuesday. The crew of emergency rescue workers from mid-Missouri are currently deployed in New York. *** UPDATE 11:30 P.M. ***Governor Nixon’s office told ABC 17 News two state emergency management teams are heading to New York, they’ll be managing volunteers and donations. Missouri Task Force One is on the move again, they’ve cleared 4500 homes and will land in New York City on Monday.The Mid-Missouri Red Cross crews have been giving out 550 hot meals a day. With all of the hard work from Missouri volunteers and employees it was a call from a New Jersey resident that we wanted to share with our Missouri crews’ families. “It’s been really bad out here and I really thank them for coming out all the way from there (Missouri) to come help New Jersey out,” said Melissa Dickey from Hackensack, NJ.Len Schermern from Hackensack, NJ said “Poles down, and trees down, and all that stuff but they came here in a matter of a few hours, 3 or 4 hours they had it all fixed and I just wanted to let their families know we appreciate it.”*** ORIGINAL STORY ***JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An emergency management team from Missouri is headed to New York to help manage volunteers and donations in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.Gov. Jay Nixon’s office says the New York emergency management office asked for help from Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency. The request was made through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is part of the nation’s mutual aid system.Nixon says SEMA gained valuable experience after last year’s Joplin tornado in helping coordinate the efforts of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who came from all over the U.S. to help.Statewide SEMA volunteer coordinator Dante Gliniecki is leading the team going to New York.Nixon encouraged Missouri residents who want to help with relief efforts to donate to the American Red Cross or other disaster relief organizations.
