The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers preemptively mobilized Mobile District Emergency Management Chief Hubert “Bo” Ansley to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and civil engineer Herb Bullock to Puerto Rico, Sept. 4, to accelerate Hurricane Irma recovery operations.
At the time, Hurricane Irma was still two days away, but the Corps of Engineers made it a priority to get someone on the ground to begin initial damage assessments, immediately following the storm.