Freehold Resident Joins Army Corps of Engineers in Joplin Recovery Effort

Freehold resident Nicholas Emanuel has deployed to Joplin, MO, as part of a local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning and Response Team that has been tapped to support recovery efforts in southwest Missouri following the devastating tornado that struck there on May 22.

The Corps has been assigned by FEMA with the Critical Public Facilities Mission there and will be responsible for managing the construction of temporary public facilities in areas where they have been destroyed or are unable to be repaired in a timely manner.

Emanuel, a contract specialist, will be responsible for managing rebuilding contracts as part of the team from the Army Corps' New York District that has been assigned to carry out that Critical Public Facilities Mission. At this early stage, the New York District team is meeting with officials to discuss the construction of temporary facilities for fire stations, school buildings (for students K-12, including a vocational high school) and medical facilities in the affected areas.

"I was living in a beach house in Belmar for the summer enjoying my life when I found out about this opportunity to help the community of Joplin and I jumped on it because I know how fortunate I am and I always look for opportunities to help people in need," Emanuel said. "I feel great pride in the work we are doing here and by all of the volunteer efforts the people of Joplin will have their lives back."

The last time the New York District Planning and Response Team Emanuel is on deployed for an event of this nature was in 2008 after Hurricane Ike struck the Gulf Coast of Texas, though that was before Emanuel was with the Corps of Engineers. The team was assigned the Temporary Housing Mission there and managed the installation of more than 3,500 individual temporary housing units as well as three community sites which are similar to neighborhoods built from scratch usually comprised of about 50 homes.

Emanuel, a civilian with the Army Corps' New York District, graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School in 2002 and has been a resident of Freehold for most of his life.