Stephanie Zessos has spent a career responding to major storms, but her recent deployment on behalf of the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to Austin, Texas opened her eyes wider to the power of states working together when disaster strikes.
"Texans were saying they had never seen anything like this before. And Texas gets a lot of disasters," said Zessos, a hazard mitigation specialist with DEMHS who spent years responding to major storms with FEMA. "Of the 26 states that assisted Texas, I was proud to represent Connecticut."
Shortly after July 4, Zessos deployed for two weeks to Texas under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual aid program where all 50 states, the territories and the District of Columbia agree to assist each other during emergencies and disasters.
At DEMHS -- one of the six divisions that make up the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection -- this has meant at various times sending its search and rescue team to Vermont and North Carolina, in addition to other deployments.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted his thanks to other states for helping out after the July flooding.
"Not only was this a catastrophic flooding event, but it was a mass casualty event. You arrive with all your skills and capabilities, and you see what they need," said Zessos, who worked in the Texas Department of Emergency Management’s State Operations Center in Austin as part of the agency’s Incident Support Task Force.
"I was an EMAC Voluntary Agency Liaison, and they welcomed my subject matter expertise in individual assistance," Zessos said. "It’s a survivor-centric role. You’re driven by helping coordinate and maximize assistance for those who went through this terrible event."
The Emergency Management Assistance Compact is considered the backbone of the nation’s emergency response network, said William Turner, Emergency Management Director with DEMHS.
In response to the Texas flooding, states quickly provided services such as K-9 teams, swift water boat squads, helicopters, urban search and rescue teams, and seasoned emergency managers. Under certain circumstances, the federal government can reimburse states for EMAC costs, but the program is primarily a state-to-state system for mutual aid.
Stephanie Zessos with some of her colleagues at the Texas State Operations Center in Austin.
The program provides critical rapid support during disasters and reduced reliance on federal resources. Over the last two decades, thousands of personnel have responded to disasters through EMAC, providing expertise to hard hit communities.
"We are trying to become more of a sending state," Turner said. "We know these are skills we need to practice. It helps others out, but it also helps us to make sure we have a really qualified and trained cadre of emergency management and emergency operations center staff."
"This is a really good opportunity for us to help our neighbors out in their time of need."
DESPP Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins said Zessos is a powerful example of the expertise found across the department.
"This perfectly illustrates DESPP's comprehensive safety system - our people aren't just trained for Connecticut emergencies, they're skilled enough to step into any state's operations and contribute immediately to critical decision-making processes," Higgins said.
"When Connecticut invests in this level of emergency management expertise, it means we're better prepared for our own disasters and we can help our fellow Americans when crisis strikes."
On X, Governor Abbott offered his personal thanks to Gov. Ned Lamont for participating in the EMAC program.
The Texas deployment was her first under EMAC, but Zessos has years of disaster response under her belt, starting with New York City based casework and volunteering following the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, through Hurricane Ian in Florida for FEMA.
"When I onboarded with FEMA in 2017 a trainer said ‘I’ve been some places and I’ve seen some things.’ I know what that means now," she said. "We don’t need to explain ourselves too much, but EMAC is not a training program, you have to have something to offer to the requesting state. These situations require experienced, knowledgeable resources."
Over two weeks of 12-hour days and daily briefings on the SOC floor, Zessos worked with her new Texas colleagues as well as EMAC representatives from 25 other states, including her colleagues from Maine and Massachusetts. In Austin, she served as part of the Incident Support Task Force and quickly made the kind of lasting professional relationships she knows will come in handy when future disasters strike.
DESPP Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins and Stephanie Zessos.
"Catastrophic disasters happen and when you’re helping people on their worst day, that’s all that matters. You go in with that mentality," Zessos said. "It was Team Texas – one team, one mission."