Number of Oklahoma Swift Water Rescue Teams Declines in Hurricane Relief

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management continues to send workers to Texas and work with FEMA following the hurricane.

“A State of Emergency for Oklahoma remains in effect so that state, county, and local governments can adequately respond to the mutual aid requests and needs of the Gulf Coast states,” said Keli Cain, public information officer at OEM in an email notification. “Under the Executive Order, state agencies can make emergency purchases and acquisitions needed to expedite the delivery of resources to local jurisdictions.”

She explained over the weekend that 29 swift water and Urban Search and Rescue teams along with one Incident Management Team continued to respond in Texas. At one point, there were more than 80 such Oklahoma swift water rescue teams in Houston.

Personnel were deployed through the Interstate Emergency Response Support Plan, a regional mutual aid agreement for Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 6 states and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is also warning Oklahomans of charity fraud and other scams in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. He said before donating, one of the easiest ways to find out if a charity is registered to solicit donations in Oklahoma is to look up on the secretary of state’s website at: www.sos.ok.gov/charity/.