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CBP Getting Back to Normal Business in Hurricane Florence-Affected Areas

Release Date
Fri, 09/21/2018
USBP and Field Operations Officers clear debris
CBP officers and Border Patrol agents
work together to clear the entry way for
an elderly couple so they can return to
their home in Wilmington, North Carolina.
CBP photo

A week after Hurricane Florence blew ashore with devastating winds and heavy rains, the last of U.S. Customs and Border Protection activities are returning to normal. Before, during and after the storm – with its winds of more than 100 miles per hour and rain measured not in inches but feet – CBP set up an emergency operations center at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at three locations in the Southeastern United States. This helped coordinate the response by CBP, as well as federal, state and local emergency response partners.

Wilmington, North Carolina, was one of the hardest hit areas, as the eye of the storm passed virtually over the city that has regular CBP operations at the seaport and international airport. Two of the three CBP facilities in Wilmington sustained damage. For a good portion of the past week, those CBP operations were shut down; Thursday, a number of CBP employees who could return to work did so, reporting to one location to resume business functions.

Shipping containers in a pile after Hurricane Florecne
Shipping containers at the Port of Wilmington,
North Carolina, were toppled in the wake of
Hurricane Florence. CBP photo

“Port operations were suspended just prior to the storm,” said Scott Opalka, port director at Wilmington and, for a while, the only CBP employee who was at the airport, which also housed a search-and-rescue team from Indiana’s Task Force One and North Carolina National Guard members. The Indiana and North Carolina group relocated, and now Wilmington’s CBP members are sharing the workspace with the CBP response group deployed to the area. The port and airport are now open again, although CBP is still working to get operations back to 100 percent. “We’re still in the process of reconstituting, with the first ships coming in Wednesday night. Wilmington International Airport resumed limited operations Tuesday, and the seaport plans to open this coming Monday.”

Opalka said they’re still assessing all of the damage to CBP facilities, with at least one of the offices closed indefinitely. That will force many employees to relocate and share the working space still available with the search-and-rescue groups.

At the height of activities, CBP sent approximately 150 CBP officers, Air and Marine Operations agents, and Border Patrol agents to the area to the Southeastern United States. They’ve conducted a variety of operations in the storm’s aftermath, including aerial search-and-rescue missions and helping local law enforcement in policing activities in the affected areas by boat or by land.

“It’s been pretty challenging with one minute you can drive on a road and the next it’s flooded and closed,” said Ray Ramos, Sr., an acting watch commander for the Border Patrol sent to North Carolina from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas and an on-scene incident commander in the storm-affected area. He took over as incident commander for Opalka so the port director could focus on business resumption. Part of what Ramos’ and his team have been doing is going out with the local sheriff’s department, as well as helping out where they are needed in the community. “It’s one team, one fight. We’re working together as one in this partnership.” 

Opalka’s grateful for the help received from the CBP family who came in from across the country, as well as the local community. He added this situation isn’t necessarily unique to Wilmington. Many of CBP’s operations occur along the coasts and is just part of the job for everyone in CBP. “We zig and zag and go wherever we need to go and do whatever we need to do,” he said.

Officials back in Washington, D.C., credit skills and teamwork within the agency, as well as with federal, state and local responders, for a successful response to the massive storm.

“CBP has a team of professionals with extensive hurricane response experience,” said Dario Lugo, CBP’s Operations Chief for the response. “We took an all-in approach to work with federal, state and local partners to help where needed and get our own operations back up and running after this storm.”

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021