CBP Makes Final Preparations for Arrival of Hurricane Laura
WASHINGTON —U.S. Customs and Border Protection is preparing for Hurricane Laura, which continues to gain strength as a Category 4 storm as it heads for the Gulf Coast.
CBP activated Brian Hastings, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent of the Rio Grande Valley Sector, as the agency’s Lead Field Coordinator and has Incident Commanders in Houston, and Hammond, LA, coordinating teams on the ground preparing for response and recovery efforts.
CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers and U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents from throughout the nation are pre-deployed to provide relief on the ground, while Air and Marine Operations (AMO) teams are staging aircraft for resupply, damage assessment, and rescue missions in accordance with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Response Framework.
“Leveraging best practices and enhancing partnerships is critically important as part of preparedness and response efforts before the next major disaster strikes,” said CBP Region VI Lead Field Coordinator Brian Hastings. “As the nation’s largest law enforcement agency, CBP personnel from around the nation are often called to action during complex national emergencies and work tirelessly to help those in need.”
CBP’s highest priorities are to promote life-saving and life-sustaining activities, the safe evacuation of people leaving the impacted area, the maintenance of public order, the prevention of the loss of property to the extent possible, and the speedy recovery of the region.
The CBP resources and assets join local, state, and federal first responders in the Gulf Coast region to provide emergency response, equipment resupply, search and rescue operations, and tactical communication support under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region VI to support CBP Hurricane response missions. Region VI provides communications and coordination for all assets in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas during major disasters and national emergencies.