US Activates Emergency Response Program to Texas, Louisiana Flooding

Amid massive flooding in the states of Texas and Louisiana during Hurricane Harvey, the US is set to deploy hundreds of additional federal staff.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has activated an emergency response program to deploy hundreds of federal employees to the flood-stricken US states of Texas and Louisiana, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.

"Today, the first wave of SCF volunteers – more than 200 individuals – began training and received operational briefings, and will be in the field assisting survivors this week," the statement said, referring to the Surge Capacity Force (SFC). "Hundreds of additional SCF volunteers will be trained in the coming days and weeks."

These before and after photos capturing the Texas flooding are remarkable https://t.co/1ZypBsTU90 pic.twitter.com/VOOk77a3Kw

— Mark Berman (@markberman) 29 августа 2017 г.

US President Donald Trump declared states of emergency in both Texas and Louisiana following catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, which slammed into southeast Texas on Saturday and continues to wreak havoc along the Gulf coast.

league city, texas during the flooding pic.twitter.com/juRWNy53PZ

— jacob lightfoot (@jmlightfoot10) 27 августа 2017 г.

Created after the devastating 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the Surge Capacity Force is a special program through which the secretary of Homeland Security can deploy federal workers to respond to extraordinary disasters in the country.

The Surge Capacity Force volunteers will leave their regular federal jobs for up to 45 days to provide assistance to survivors of the floods in Texas and Louisiana.

The volunteers will join more than 8,500 federal staff who are already on the ground assisting in the ongoing response, the Department of Homeland Security said.