March 25, 2009 — Thirty-eight free standby power generators are coming to the Virgin Islands this week to shore up the territory's emergency shelters and provide backup electrical power to other critical areas, thanks to quick action by the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency when opportunity knocked.
Two months ago, VITEMA learned that FEMA was in the process of transferring its excess generators to other federal agencies and seized the opportunity to request that the territory be considered.
"VITEMA requested consideration for the generators, and with … coordination with Property and Procurement, the generators were approved to the territory in one day," VITEMA Director Mark Walters said at a Senate oversight hearing Monday in Frederiksted.
VITEMA is working with FEMA and the Puerto Rico National Guard to transport the generators to Roosevelt Roads military base in Puerto Rico, where VITEMA coordinated with the Department of Defense to have the generators airlifted to the Virgin Islands on military aircraft already traveling to the territory as part of a readiness exercise.
So beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, the generators will arrive by C-130 military aircraft from Puerto Rico.
In a Government House statement about the generators, Gov. John deJongh Jr. praised Walters, Public Works Commissioner Daryl Smalls and Property and Procurement Commissioner Lynn Millin-Maduro for coordinating with one another in getting the generators for the territory.
"The request for the excess generators was in response to concerns raised at a Virgin Islands Emergency Management Council meeting held in November," deJongh said. "As Hurricane Omar disaster operations wound down, VITEMA convened an EMC meeting to review the territory's response and recovery efforts to identify areas of success and to pinpoint where improvements were needed. One of the areas identified for improvement was emergency power at the territory's shelters."
The units will remain at a storage facility until requirements for generators at the territory's shelters have been assessed. VITEMA is coordinating with FEMA to have the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers conduct the assessment.
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