To: Georgia PSAP Directors
GA-TERT Members / Team Leaders
GECA and GEMA/HS Staff
From: Mandy Ptak, GA-TERT Deputy State Coordinator RE: Pre-Alert Notice for Hurricane Idalia
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Idalia is currently a Category 1 hurricane. Idalia is now forecast to make landfall along the Florida Big Bend tomorrow morning as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. The brunt of Georgia impacts are still expected in South-Central and Southeast Georgia. It will begin to rapidly weaken as it moves inland but should still be a Category 1 hurricane as it moves into far southen Georgia by midday Wednesday.
Members of the Georgia Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (GA-TERT) are hereby placed in “PRE-ALERT” status and should begin to consider their availability for possible deployment. In the event a request for assistance is received, we will quickly notify members and attempt to meet the needs of the request.
It is imperative that all credentialed team members login to the GA TERT portal (www.gatert.org) to confirm the data in their profile, including contact and salary information. Members are also encouraged to view the pre-deployment checklist and familiarize themselves with the program guidelines.
As a reminder, all requests for a GA-TERT deployment must come through the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) and be closely coordinated with local government and PSAPs.
Emergency Telecommunicators who wish to join the GA-TERT in anticipation of this storm should review the requirements and submit their application as soon as possible at https://gatert.org/join-georgia-tert/.
