TENNESSEE—Natural disasters are becoming more widespread and frequent, meaning local, state and federal organizations must be well-coordinated to manage such incidents. That’s why nearly 500 people, representing 17 federal and state agencies across the South, recently gathered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“No one agency can do it alone, whether it is a state agency or federal government or local volunteer fire departments; it really takes all of us coming together for emergency responses,” said Kevin Harvell, incident commander with the North Carolina Forest Service.

Southern Area Incident Management Teams are made up of members from numerous state, federal and tribal agencies across the country. Members also come to these teams from all across the country, not just from the South.

Since the 1980s in the north Atlantic Ocean, there have been more storms, stronger hurricanes and an increase in hurricanes that rapidly intensify, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In 2017, for example, hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused major devastation across six southern states and two U.S. territories. The three storms took lives and caused damages totaling $265 billion, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Federal and state agencies use incident management teams to coordinate all kinds of situations, from wildfires and hurricanes to COVID response. Through informative panels and emergency simulations, attendees at the Southern Area Incident Management Team Meeting learned about trends in effective emergency response and participated in realistic scenarios to prepare for future incidents.

“We came together with one goal: To improve our effective response in the face of any disaster,” said Andy Baker, an incident commander who is the Forest Service Southern Region’s assistant director of Fire and Aviation Management.

Participants gained practical experience through simulations tailored for seasoned professionals and trainees alike to ensure teams are aligned in how they respond to emergencies. It has been three years since all teams gathered together due to COVID-19, even though teams have continued to respond to numerous incidents across the country through the pandemic.

“The experience was a good way to knock the dust off and get everyone comfortable with the procedures and expectations,” said Shawn Nagle, National Park Service, who portrayed an incident commander in one of the simulation exercises.