By Joanie Morris
jmorris@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Assistant City Manager Eddie Smith has two women on his mind ó his wife, Jennifer, and Hanna.
Hanna is the newest hurricane headed toward the Carolinas, but it isn’t expected to deliver much in the way of weather. In fact, Smith said, “Hanna’s going to go off our radar screen (today).” He should know. As a disaster assistance reservist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he is currently assigned to the FEMA Region 4 headquarters in Atlanta. He is serving as a risk analyst on the Hurricane Liaison Team. FEMA’s Region 4 consists of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.
“I provide risk analysis on wind speeds, cone of probability, rainfall amounts and storm paths to more than 30 different federal and state agencies that may be impacted” by storms, Smith said from Atlanta on Thursday afternoon.
From a big room in the FEMA Region 4 headquarters, Smith sits at a computer ó one of many in the room where about 50 volunteers work ó and updates information for agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Highway Administration and others.
“That allows them to better plan how they are going to respond to the storm,” Smith said. For the most part, the team members are all volunteers, only being reimbursed by FEMA for their travel and lodging. The volunteers provide their time and expertise for free.
“I have been (a Hurricane Liaison Team) member since the summer of 2007,” said Smith. There are 15 people on the Hurricane Liaison Team from across the United States. Smith said one member is from California, but most team members are from the southeastern United States. FEMA tries to diversify the Hurricane Liaison Teams so everyone isn’t from a state affected by such extreme weather. Only a few members in Atlanta aren’t from the southeast.
Smith received a master’s degree in public administration from Appalachian State University, with a concentration in emergency management ó the first of such degrees awarded at the university.
Serving on the FEMA team “was like a convergence of the perfect circumstances,” he said. After graduation, he worked in New Hanover County from 1998-2000 in hazard mitigation and hurricane planning. Smith has also served as a field researcher with the Hurricane Intercept Research Team, from 1998-2007, based out of Wilmington.
In New Hanover County, Smith served under Dan Summers, “the Godfather” of emergency management, Smith said. Now Summers is emergency management director for Collier County, Fla., and even after 12 years, he still hosts interns from Appalachian State University in emergency management, which has become a permanent concentration.
Smith is planning to return to Kannapolis on Thursday, after working a week of 15- to 18-hour shifts as a volunteer for FEMA. “I will stay in Atlanta and serve as the coordinator between the National Hurricane Center and Washington, D.C., and all the impacted states in the region,” Smith said.
Hanna likely won’t be on his mind for long. Ike has replaced her in the ranking of concerns. It’s looking more like Ike will head straight to south Florida, in the Miami area, Smith said. If Ike happens to turn toward Atlanta, he could be stuck there. “I could be a victim of that as well,” he said.
He could be asked to serve again this hurricane season. Smith said he’s already been asked twice, during Fay and Gustav. It’s generally frowned on by FEMA to decline three activations in a row. “I can only do this as I am able to juggle my primary responsibility with the city,” Smith said. “I’m able to do this because we have such great department heads in Kannapolis.
“I’m very appreciative that Mike (Legg, city manager) and city council give me the opportunity to use my expertise and resources to help out FEMA during these types of storms,” Smith added.