By rssfeeds-admin On Saturday, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said the 39 crew members were heading to Texas as part of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS); they’re scheduled to be in Texas for up to two weeks.
The Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team will be based around Austin, and as of Sunday morning, crew members were waiting for an assignment, according to MABAS leadership. Illinois is among about two dozen other states to offer help to Texas following flooding that killed at least 129 people.
“This nationwide mutual aid agreement allows states to share resources and personnel during emergencies, and tasks for this operation include wide-area search and rescue as well as debris pile clearance. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating tragedy and hope we can be of service,” IEMA-OHS Acting Director Theodore (Ted) Berger said in a news release.
The crew — USAR Task Force 1 — was sworn in at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security in Springfield before driving to Texas.
The assistance is part of a mutual aid agreement among states — in which they pledge to help each other during emergencies and disasters. Along with Governor JB Pritzker’s approval, the IEMA and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS) activated the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). The EMAC was formed in 1996 and and has aided in the responses to hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other disasters.
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