FEMA hopes to speed disaster response with Baton Rouge contingent of home-based ‘reservists’

Baton Rouge will serve as the test site for a program designed to convert hundreds of temporary FEMA workers into reservists — creating a ready-made response team prepared to tackle any future disasters in this area.

“For the regions most impacted by storms, we want to create a workforce that is more readily available in those areas to respond to disasters,” said Carissa Berkeley, supervisor, human resource specialists, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.