Dec. 2024 Raleigh Water Employee Newsletter

Raleigh Water Staff Wins Meter Challenge Contributed by: James Sleeper We want to congratulate Shannon Pickett from Raleigh Water for winning the Meter Challenge during this year's CONNECT Meter School. The goal of 'Meter Challenge' is to assemble all components of a water meter with the fastest time. Shannon had the overall record time of 0:57 and in the end, took home the trophy in the head - to - head final!

Raleigh Water Employee Helps Lost Child Find Mother On Thursday, Oct. 17, Raleigh Water employee, Geoffrey Fish , saw a three - year - old boy walking barefoot alone on the side of the road. He pulled over and attempted to communicate with the child. After sharing his snacks and letting the boy warm up, they walked in the direction of the child's house looking for his parents. Several neighbors guided the child in the right direction before reuniting him with his mother. A big thanks to Geoffrey for setting a wonderful example of serving the community by going above and beyond the call of duty!

Special Recognition: Michael Falk “ I wanted to take a moment amidst this busy (Western NC/Hurricane Helene) response effort to recognize the exceptional work that Mike has been doing. Typically, NCWaterWARN handles a limited number of missions during these operations. However, due to the severe impact that Hurricane Helene has had on the region, particularly on the water sector, the requests for assistance have reached unprecedented levels. As you're aware, the infrastructure breakout room has been overwhelmed with tasks, and I was assigned to support WARN. When I took over, the desk was disorganized, with missions being carried out without proper communication or awareness at the state level. Thanks to Mike's leadership and dedication, he has transformed the situation, centralizing mission tasks and streamlining the flow of information into a clear and efficient process. Missions are now executed with full state oversight, and information is being relayed accurately and consistently. Even when Mike is not officially scheduled at the WARN desk, he continues to provide crucial oversight and direction to ongoing field missions. I want to emphasize that I would not have been able to establish the streamlined, effective process we now have for WARN operations without Mike ’ s outstanding support and initiative. Thank you for your time, and please know how critical Mike's contributions have been to the success of this response. ”

- Tommy Wendelgass FEMA Integration Team - North Carolina Operational Planning Branch | Response Division | FEMA Region 4

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