VANCLEAVE, Miss. (AP) -- Thousands of new faces came to Gautier as part of the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort.
This week, some of those faces began popping up in Vancleave. Camp Gautier, an incident command post that has housed 68 federal, state, county and non-governmental agencies since Sept. 2, is relocating to the grounds of the county-owned horse arena in Vancleave.
Frank Mosbacher, information officer for the California-based National Incident Management Team 4 that replaced a team from New York, said the primary goal was to create a camp capable of hosting 1,000 people. Their command post at Gautier High School, dubbed Camp Gautier, at times served as a base for about 4,300 people.
Mosbacher said a 30-day contract with the Pascagoula School District ends Sept. 30, prompting the move to Vancleave.
''We are changing locations of this camp. We are not closing the camp. We've got a new name but basically the responders are still coming into Jackson County and they will receive all the services they need to be effective through a camp operation. It's just going to be located in Vancleave so that the (Gautier) high school can open,'' he said.
The new camp site, designated Camp Vancleave, also is expected to bring thousands of new faces to the 4,500-strong incident management community. Emergency responders assigned to the base camp change as the incidents change, said Mosbacher.
In the beginning Camp Gautier residents were mostly law enforcement and military personnel who patrolled the destroyed neighborhoods and business districts. Hundreds of municipal firefighters were the next to arrive.
They were brought in by FEMA to perform the community relations task of personally informing victims of how they could obtain assistance, Mosbacher said.
The search for a replacement to Camp Gautier was extensive and involved Jackson County officials and Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mosbacher said two sites, including an existing camp in Mobile, were considered.
''We were happy to find we could accommodate them in Vancleave at a place normally used for horse shows,'' he said. The move to Vancleave will be similar to relocating a small city. I think if people have a chance to see what develops up there, they will be surprised at the town that will arise.''
Foremost is sleeping, eating, laundry and restroom arrangements for 1,000 people.
''Parking will all be organized. There will be wood chips on the ground to make it less dirty. Watering will be going on to keep the dust down. It will be quite a buzzing place until the camp is no longer needed,'' Mosbacher said.
FEMA, Americorps, National Guard, health agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, media, Salvation Army and law enforcement functioned at the high school 24 hours a day. The agencies will also used Camp Vancleave. Law enforcement from surrounding states are among the non-lodging agencies that will frequent there.
''This place provided a catalyst for us coming together but many of them have different missions,'' Mosbacher said.
The 16-member East Bay incident management team from Oakland, Calif., another arm of the recovery process that makes its base at the camps, was brought in by Jackson County through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Jim Parrott, a member of the East Bay management team, said an emergency mutual aid agreement was not in place with Mississippi. He said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to enter a pact so aid could be provided to Mississippi.
''We have a medical officer who helped the county health people get a plan together with those people. We have a safety person who looks at all safety issues that come up with a disaster response such as trucks driving too high. They were pulling down power lines,'' he said.
Mosbacher said as the camp relocates to Vancleave, he and his colleagues are proud to know that five school campuses _ four unidentified elementary schools and Gautier High School _ have benefited from their presence.
''With the help of a Naval Mobile Construction Battalion from Gulfport, Miss., and a Naval Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit from Naval Base Coronardo, Calif., we were able to remove debris from five schools and repair damage at Gautier High School,'' said Aaron Gelobter, incident commander of the California Interagency Incident Management Team 4.
''It's important that students return to a pleasant school environment especially considering all the damage they have been living with over the last month,'' he said.
