New USACE engineer learns on the job while supporting Hurricane Ida recovery efforts

Photo By Patrick Moes | Matt Clark, left, and Helen Walz, both U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees currently supporting the Hurricane Ida housing team mission, review data following a housing site assessment Oct. 3.  

LA, UNITED STATES

10.15.2021

Story by Patrick Moes 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District

A little more than a year ago, Helen Walz was sitting in a classroom at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as a soon-to-be graduate doing what most college seniors do, cramming for final exams while filling out resumes for a life after school.

For Walz, a Minneapolis native, that future would end up with a career just across the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she now works as a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District. Starting her job in March 2021, Walz said she has done and learned a lot of new things –all while in a virtual world due to COVID-19 – but nothing could have prepared her for her current role.

Walz is currently deployed to Louisiana in support of the Corps’ Hurricane Ida response team where she is working as a housing team technical monitor. In this capacity, Walz and a small team from the St. Paul and Huntington districts are responsible for gathering critical infrastructure information needed to determine if a location is feasible for placing temporary housing units. Walz said her role is all about collecting the information the Federal Emergency Management Agency needs to make an informed decision as to whether a temporary home would fit on a property or not.

As an entry-level engineer, Walz said she’s been continually learning on the job and emphasized the need to remain flexible and focused on the importance of helping people recover from the storm. “You need to be willing to learn new things, learn them quickly and then get in a pattern, get a rhythm going,” she said. “I think the biggest learning experience [so far] has been learning about adaptability and flexibility. Things are changing every day, but the focus is all about gathering the information needed to help survivors get into a home as quickly as possible.”

While the learning curve is a new one for Walz, she said it’s been made a little easier because of the team she is working with in Louisiana. The team, to include an economist, park ranger, project scheduler, lock and dam operator and more, may have unique backgrounds and have a wide range of work experience within their day-to-day jobs, they all are starting from the same place. “I'm learning but everyone else is learning, too,” Walz said. “What we are doing is new to everyone. This is a new goal, and the entire team is eager to learn, too. So that encourages me that I can also learn what I need to know.”

Andy Huffman, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District quality manager currently deployed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as the housing team mission manager, said he agreed with Walz on the uniqueness of the housing team and their willingness to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. “On a daily basis our teams are faced with many challenges,” said Huffman. “The unique backgrounds and experiences of the team members brings a flexibility of thought and openness, resulting in innovative solutions to complex issues. Our team is comprised of USACE employees that are committed to doing what they can to help.”

Walz said that at the end of the day, it’s all about people taking care of people. “We are bringing folks together for something that's unique to everyone,” she concluded. “This is not what people are used to doing, but we are working together to make this mission happen. I think the mission is something that's really neat and has allowed me to meet a lot of different people and think about things in a lot of different ways which is valuable. I'll certainly take that back and remember it for whatever i do next.”

• Date Taken: 10.15.2021
• Date Posted: 10.15.2021 10:02
• Story ID: 407306
• Location: LA, US