FEMA activates emergency plans ahead of Hurricane Michael

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has activated its National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C., and Regional Response Coordination Center in Atlanta in preparation for Hurricane Michael, which is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane within the next 24 hours along the Florida coastline. FEMA also has deployed Incident Management Assistance Teams to both Atlanta and the Florida State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee to assist with any requests for federal resources ahead of the storm’s landfall. The governors of Florida and Alabama have declared states of emergency ahead of the storm. The Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response said this afternoon that no hospitals in Florida were currently evacuating and two nursing homes in the state were in the process of evacuating. HHS is sharing information and resources about what individuals can do before, during and after the storm.