Photo By Thomas Black | Huntington native and current Ona, W.Va., resident David "Mike" Barbour of the U.S....... read more read more
JOPLIN, Mo. - David “Mike” Barbour of Ona, W.Va., an electrical engineer/designer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District, is deployed in Joplin, Mo., helping with the Corps’ response to the severe tornado that struck the city May 22.
His assignment involves working as a temporary housing electrical engineer for the Joplin Recovery Field Office.
Barbour’s areas of expertise – power and communications distribution, as well as safety analysis of electrical equipment – are lower profile than the major infrastructure and heavy equipment people associate with the Corps, but no less important.
The 15-year Corps employee said he strives to be attentive to customer needs, and to keep abreast of the rapid changes in building power and light distribution technology. He also constantly finds himself balancing projected costs with expected performance and benefits. Long-term, he hopes to be a Corps regional technical expert.
His Corps career is highly rewarding both because of the variety it offers and because it helps other people, Barbour said.
“We control water and keep people safe. I have a great sense of pride in working for the Corps of Engineers. In addition, I get to work on many different projects on teams with great people. My job is never boring.”
In his current assignment, Barbour said interaction with grateful Joplin residents is a bonus.
“During my first week in Joplin I received a hug of gratitude from an elderly lady and a word of encouragement from a 4-year-old girl who simply told me to ‘Do good!’” he recalled.
The Joplin RFO was established as part of the National Response Framework, in which the Corps supports the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency by providing water, power, debris removal, temporary housing, temporary roofing and logistical support.
The fact that such a labor-intensive and complex operation got up and running smoothly within a few days is remarkable, Barbour said.
“Although I’ve seen a lot of great engineering projects in my 15 years with the Corps, the temporary housing mission and the Corps’ entire disaster response operations really stand out."
Barbour spends as much time as possible with his wife and 6-year-old daughter. In his spare time, he enjoys woodworking, enjoying live music, and restoring a 1968 Ford Mustang.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2011 16:36 |
| Story ID: | 73870 |
| Location: | JOPLIN, MO, US |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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