Hurricane Irma – MOVE Response Efforts

September 22 Update – Changing of the Crew / Relief Efforts Continue

After over 30 days and more than 5000 miles… IEEE Volunteers, Grayson Randall and Tim Forrest are headed home.

During their deployment, Tim and Grayson proudly helped assist the Red Cross (in Andrews, NC) and the local regional airport during the solar eclipse (Jay Diepenbrock also helped with the eclipse). From there, the duo helped over 10,000 people sheltered at the George R Brown Convention center in Houston TX after tremendous flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma arrived and the team assisted with communications in Naples FL, Ft Myers, FL and in Sugarloaf Key FL which had major damage from the 1st and 2nd landfalls of the storm.

They are replaced by Jay Diepenbrock (Jay is coming from Houston where he has been providing assistance, helping re-establish radio communications, and meeting other technology needs) and Will Robinson who flew in yesterday to continue the IEEE MOVE support in Florida.

Thank you to Tim and Grayson for their tremendous efforts!

September 17 – The MOVE truck is currently in Sugarloaf Key, FL.

Today, The team met a man who stayed for the hurricane and shared his storm experience with them:

He said that at 11 pm when there was ankle deep water in his home. A little while later it was knee deep. He went to the second floor to wait out the storm.The next morning he came down to find ALL his belongings were gone. His TV, clothes, wallet, phone, furniture….. the storm had flowed through his apartment and removed everything! He was wearing donated clothes and was looking to call his parents. We were able to provide an IP phone for him to make the call.
 
IEEE-USA’s MOVE truck is providing internet access and the ability to make phone calls to the general public at the shelter. Tomorrow the MOVE volunteers will we meet with a team dedicated to family reunification. Hopefully, we will be able to assist further in the process of connecting families.

September 16 –

(4:00 PM ET) The MOVE Truck is in Marathon Key, FL. They are headed further and have been permitted to travel closed roads to get this far. They will provide internet and phones to the toughest hit area.

(10:00 AM ET) The MOVE truck is on its way to Key West and should arrive later today.  Conditions and communications there are very bad.  Relief workers who arrived prior to ours asked them to bring towels. Things are very basic there.


September 13 – The MOVE team has helped set up headquarters in Naples, FL to continue assisting with critical infrastructure and communication needs. Current conditions: 93 degrees, very humid, no power (using generators), spotty cell coverage.


September 12 –
(12:30 PM ET) – Loaded with equipment, the MOVE truck is headed to Naples, FL to assist with relief and to address critical communication and technology needs.

(7:30 AM) The team has arrived in Orlando and will be receiving their marching orders soon. Stay tuned for updates!


September 11 – MOVE arrived in Tallahassee earlier today and has been deployed to assist with relief efforts in Orlando.


September 10  (7:15 AM ET) –  The MOVE truck is moving to Mobile, Alabama in order to ensure the safety of our volunteers. The team will return to Florida as conditions allow to assist with relief efforts.


September 9 (8:00 AM ET) – The MOVE vehicle arrived in Tallahassee to prepare for Hurricane Irma.  The Team reported very heavy northbound traffic with tankers and bucket trucks headed south.


September 8
WIAT320(6:30 PM ET) The MOVE vehicle and team have been deployed to Tallahassee to will position themselves to help when safe to do so. IEEE Volunteers are also continuing with flood relief efforts in Houston.

(12:00 PM ET) The MOVE truck is currently on standby at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (VIDEO).


September 6: The 2017 Hurricane Season is in full swing and Hurricane IRMA is projected to reach Florida by this weekend.  The IEEE-USA MOVE truck will be leaving Houston today and heading East to position itself for Irma (this will be determined by the Red Cross). Volunteers will remain in Texas to continue with the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

If you are in the path of Irma, please take the appropriate steps to stay safe:

Want to help?

  • Volunteer –  IEEE-USA MOVE Volunteers are also Red Cross Volunteers. To help, please signup with your local Red Cross and then sign up to be added to our roster of MOVE volunteers here.
  • Donate – MOVE is funded by donations like yours. Your support is greatly appreciated. Please consider helping the MOVE Community Outreach program by donating to the cause.