The Boston Society of Civil Engineers and its members have been actively involved in Disaster Response.
Many of our members went down to the Gulf States in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. BSCE made a donation to the ASCE fund that was established to assist local sections in the aftermath of the disaster.
In addition to the Coast Guard and other federal, state and local agencies, FEMA US&R teams (Federal Emergency Management Association Urban Search and Rescue) perform search, rescue and recovery operations. The members of these agencies have the necessary tools, equipment, and specialized training and skills, and are ready to be deployed in times of catastrophic structural collapse. MATF-1 (Massachusetts Task Force 1) is among the 28 national and numerous state FEMA teams, and was deployed for the Katrina Hurricane disaster as well as 9/11. Each team carries structural, construction and environmental (hazmat) specialists. Several of our members are proud to be part of the Massachusetts US&R Team. Individuals interested in the program are encouraged to contact MATF-1 through the link below.
Pre and post-disaster funding assistance is channeled to the engineering community (public and private), through FEMA and ACOE (Army Corps of Engineer’s). FEMA maintains ongoing contracts with local and national firms. The scope of these contracts include refurbishing existing structures, repairing infrastructure, providing temporary housing, assessing environmental hazards and remediation, and consulting and management services. It is our hope to add to this resource page a list of firms that are performing these ongoing contracts.
ASCE Disaster Assistance Volunteer Program
Massachusetts Urban Search and Rescue