Puerto Rico Emergency Management Bureau conducts an activation drill of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

Emergency management personnel conducting the activation drill of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). FEMA/Yuisa Rios

August 30, 2022 - As part of the work performed by the Department of Public Safety's (DSP) Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration (PREMB) to be prepared to deal with any emergency situation, today a drill was conducted to activate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) with a hurricane system.

"Throughout the year, we offer training to agency heads, municipal, state and federal officials, and the community itself so that we can all be in sync in the event of an emergency situation. We also do drills like today's so that all the personnel who have to work in an emergency are activated and perform their duties," said PREMB Commissioner Nino Correa Filomeno.  

The drill was initiated with the notification of the alert by the PREMB Control area to all areas, employees and state coordinators on Sunday afternoon, after the National Weather Service (NMS) issued a hurricane watch for the island with a category 5 hurricane. On Monday, the EOC was activated and personnel were scheduled for today morning. The simulated hurricane, named Maria II, entered through Yabucoa with maximum winds of 155 mph. The drill included scenarios of flooding, landslides, bridge collapse, electrical and water system failures, problems with generators, among other emergency situations.

"This drill gives us the opportunity to observe and participate in an exercise focused on first responders' emergency response plans, policies and procedures. As part of Governor Pedro Pierluisi's public policy and security component, joint work with municipalities, state and federal agencies is strengthened to be able to address any situation that may occur on the island," said DSP Secretary Alexis Torres.

Correa Filomeno highlighted that, as part of the exercise in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the approximately 100 community centers or "community hubs" around the island were activated, which have community leaders who will help the PREMB to provide supplies and aid to the communities. Likewise, private enterprise was activated as part of the Business Emergency Operations Center (BEOC), with whom there are collaboration agreements to support the government's efforts to help citizens.

"FEMA's commitment to Puerto Rico is a solid one, which during the past 30 years has allowed us to help the island in times of great challenges. We continue to support the Bureau's efforts to strengthen the Puerto Rico government's response and recovery capabilities in the event of any type of emergency. This drill allows us to identify the needs that we would face as a work team and that we can correct them before we have an event to respond to. We appreciate the collaboration and enthusiasm with which this effort is carried out, where all segments of our communities participate, from faith-based organizations, private enterprise, community organizations, to very important components such as the National Guard, which would join to support the response to an emergency and which we were able to put into practice today," said Orlando Olivera, coordinator of FEMA's Caribbean Office.

The NMEAD commissioner added: "In this exercise, we will respond to events and information as if it were a real emergency. In this exercise, we evaluate the operational process of each coordinator, the resources available to reestablish basic services, among others. We will continue working to fine-tune the details of the plans and to be able to serve the citizens in case of an emergency, as we are called to do every day.