Montana sends incident management team to Georgia to assist in Helen’s recovery

HELENA — Governor Greg Gianforte announced that Montana will send an incident management team to Georgia to assist in the response to Hurricane Helene.

The Type 3 incident management team, made up of nine members, goes to Mâcon on Friday for the start of a 15-day deployment. Gianforte’s office said in a statement that he would assist with planning, resource management and public information in an area where Helene destroyed an emergency operations center.

“Please join Susan and I in praying for everyone affected by Hurricane Helen and for the safety of our staff,” Gianforte said in the statement.

Ken Parks, deputy DES coordinator at the Missoula County Office of Emergency Management, will lead the team, and Montana Disaster and Emergency Services will coordinate the deployment.

Gianforte’s office says it is sending these resources in response to a request through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, or EMAC, a national system that allows governors to request and share personnel when needed. Montana often receives assistance through EMAC when facing disasters such as wildfires.