SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Dothan, Ala., native, Bobby Moore’s usual workday involves overseeing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers project from his office in Eufaula, Ala. But, for the past month, he has been assisting the residents of Puerto Rico in recovering from the worst disaster to hit the island in more than 100 years.
On Sept. 20, Category 5 Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. The hurricane destroyed homes, knocked out water and wastewater stations and power to most of the island. On Sept. 24, Moore, the commander of Mobile District and 12 other USACE employees, boarded a military flight for San Juan, an advanced party that would set up the Corps Puerto Rico Recovery Field Office and assess the missions.
Since his arrival, Moore, who is assigned to Mobile District, has served as the Operations Section Chief for the Corps’ Puerto Rico Recovery Field Office, providing hurricane response to one of the biggest disasters in the Corps’ history, in terms of the magnitude of the mission and the number of USACE personnel involved.
“I’ve been working with the mission managers for each of our assigned missions to ensure that they have proper resources and personnel to achieve their mission taskings,” Moore explained. The end result of his efforts include providing temporary power for hospitals and other critical facilities, debris cleared from roadways and picked up from communities, and temporary roofs for the thousands of residents whose homes were damaged during the hurricane.
Moore holds a bachelor’s of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. In Eufaula, he is responsible for the Walter F. George Lock and Dam, G. W. Andrews Lock and Dam, and the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam on the Chattahoochee River. He also oversees the campgrounds, day-use areas and boat ramps operated by the Corps of Engineers along the river and lakes.
“Bobby has been the linchpin for our whole operation,” said Col. James DeLapp, the commander of the Puerto Rico Recovery Field Office and USACE’s Mobile District. “He has been the one who has pulled the whole operation together and ensured that all of the teams had everything they needed to make a difference here in Puerto Rico.”
In the nine and a half years, Moore has worked for the Corps, this is Moore’s second disaster deployment. He deployed to Birmingham in 2011 in response to the 29 tornados that tore through central Alabama. More than 240 people died as a result of the tornadoes, in what is considered one of the deadliest, costliest and most destructive tornado outbreaks in U.S history.
After a month working in Puerto Rico, Moore will return to Eufaula. During that month, the Corps’ presence has grown from a handful of staff members to more than 600 personnel. His efforts in Puerto Rico yielded more than 160 generators installed at critical facilities, thousands of cubic yards of debris removed from communities, and more than a thousand temporary roofs placed on homes, with thousands of more scheduled to be installed.
“It has been rewarding to be part of a larger response effort to help the people of Puerto Rico,” Moore said.