Hurricane Florence: Supporting Virginia's Reentry Access

Hurricane Florence has been the most destructive storm of the 2018 hurricane season as it has greatly impacted the Carolinas, as well as parts of Virginia, over the past ten days. Florence originated off of the coast of Africa and made its way across the Atlantic, growing in strength and making landfall as a category 1 hurricane. Despite making landfall as a weakened Category 1 hurricane, Florence still had enough strength to cause widespread power outages and an incredibly strong storm surge throughout the Carolinas. This storm was slow moving, dumping mass amounts of water. Water levels are still on the rise in some areas, creating for an increasingly difficult and extended recovery effort. Florence has already claimed the lives of at least 45 individuals and is estimated to have caused more than $38 billion in damages.

More than a million people living along the coastlines of Virginia and the Carolinas were ordered to evacuate their homes prior to Hurricane Florence making landfall and ER-ITN was given the opportunity to support Virginia’s reentry efforts. This was the first event that we have been active within the state of Virginia and our participation was a cooperative effort with CERRA, https://www.cerraaccess.org/, a nationwide effort for standardized reentry. Our support to Virginia was a great success, as more than 50 separate organizations, both local and national, registered and received expedited reentry access. Every organization received proper reentry credentials and had access to their facilities with no reported issues. This was an optimal example of how jurisdictions and states can utilize the CERRA reentry initiative to help expedite aid and recovery through standardized reentry access.

For more information on CERRA and reentry into all supporting areas for future events, please visit https://www.cerraaccess.org/