Video

Video by Justin Campfield

Pounding the Pavement in Palisades

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District

May 16, 2025 | 2:27

“The outreach team is really the Corps’ opportunity to show who we are to residents and survivors. Our primary duty is to show them that we are here, with boots on the ground, to help them.” - MAJ Mike Knowles, Emergency Field Office Palisades outreach team lead. In the months since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deployed to Southern California to help residents and the local community recover from devastating wildfires, the Palisades outreach team has tirelessly sought out opportunities to engage the public, share information and offer assistance. Farmers’ markets, forums, town council meetings and one-on-one appointments with survivors are just a few of the ways the outreach team has fanned out into the Palisades community to support the USACE debris removal process. USACE is conducting Phase 2 Private Property Debris Removal under direction of FEMA in coordination with CAL OES and the County of Los Angeles. More than 200 USACE personnel are currently deployed in the area to support the largest fire debris removal mission in US Army Corps of Engineers history.