Silver Jackets teams are state-led interagency groups established in nearly all states across the country bring together multiple state, federal, and sometimes tribal and local agencies to learn from one another and apply their knowledge to reduce the risk of flooding and other natural disasters in the United States and enhance response and recovery efforts when such events do occur.
Although each state’s Silver Jackets team is unique, common agency participants include state agencies with mission areas of hazard mitigation, emergency management, floodplain management, natural resources management or conservation, etc. Federal participation typically includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and often others such as the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. Resources for activities associated with the team come through the individual programs of each agency within the constraints of available budgets.
No single agency has all the answers, but leveraging multiple programs and perspectives can provide a cohesive solution.
why the name "silver jackets"?
Traditionally, different agencies wear different colored jackets when responding to emergencies. For example, FEMA personnel wear blue and USACE personnel wear red. The name Silver Jackets is used to underscore the common mission of a single team of diverse agencies working together to reduce flood risk at the state level.
silver jackets program goals
- Facilitate strategic life-cycle flood risk reduction.
- Create or supplement a continuous mechanism to collaboratively solve state-prioritized issues and implement or recommend those solutions.
- Improve processes, identifying and resolving gaps and counteractive programs.
- Leverage and optimize resources.
- Improve and increase flood risk communication and present a unified interagency message.
- Establish close relationships to facilitate integrated post-disaster recovery solutions.
The New Jersey Silver Jackets team is focused on the areas of outreach and coordination, flood inundation mapping, and implementing tangible flood risk management and education efforts to address the expressed needs of the State of New Jersey and communities and townships within it.
Example Activities
- Passaic River Basin Flood Inundation Mapping (4 sites)
- Passaic River Basin Unsteady Modeling for Forecast Improvements
- Lincoln Park, NJ Post Floodplain Acquisition Planning project
- Non-Structural Flood Proofing Workshops in Cumberland County
- Raritan River North and South Branch Inundation Mapping
For More Information Please Contact
Jason Miller, Philadelphia District, Jason.F.Miller@usace.army.mil
Jennifer Curran, New York District, Jennifer.L.Curran@usace.army.mil
Participating Agencies
Federal
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region II, Mitigation Division
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – National Weather Service
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -Philadelphia and New York Districts
- U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service
- U.S. Geological Survey
- U.S. Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
State
- Delaware River Basin Commission
- NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Engineering and Construction
- NJ Office of Emergency Management, Preparedness and Mitigation Unit
- NJ Office of Homeland Security and Protection