First Responders

While many were busy complaining, others were just busy. Via e-mail, how some folks cut through red tape:

I went in on the rescue boats on Wednesday. I called my boss about 3 AM and left the message in his voicemail. I joined a group organized by a local state senator. Convoy speeds of up to 80 mph with some trucks pulling boats passing us. Got to the edge of the interstate to launch boats and were delayed for 45 minutes.

I wore my uniform, I'm a 1SG in the USAR, to bluff my way in. Once there the local pol abdicated his leadership and told everyone to go home. Its about 150 miles from Lafayette to NO. Sorry, but No was not an acceptable answer that day. No volunteers in Jeff Parish. No volunteers in Plaqumines parish. Finally met a FEMA guy. He was a road block and not a help.

Eventually , 5 hours after reaching the launch site we got our boats in the water. My supply SGT is a member of the OPSD SWAT team so we loaded 16 of them on our boats and hit the water. The levees are great for small floods but really hampered rescue. We crossed small boats over the Orleans canal and Airboats over Bayou St John. Shuttled refugees between boats. Tried to get a Cherrypicker or backhoe to come out on the railroad tracks to aid us in lifting boats over the railroad embankment. Search and rescue teams like the idea but need approval. WTF!

Note to everyone in the hurricane areas, If you get in your attic you will die. One crew spent Wednesday with FEMA breaching the roofs of all single story structures. Counting the dead. As we floated down Canal BLVD toward the lake I thought of Monty Python, "Bring out your dead."

We hit a surburban. Completely submerged. We passed an Episcopal church. Pews and bibles floating in the street. Every two story house had broken windows where they accessed the roof for rescue. In some areas the water is only two feet deep. Trunks and fuel tanks open. A fireman on a Waverunner flags us down. He is wearing shorts and a fire helmet. His Waverunner has sucked up some garbage and developed a terminal case of asthma. He hitches a ride in one boat.

My two native guides live across the Orleans canal and lead a six man LE team to UNO in response to a cry for help from the local PD. An hour later they return. UNO is deserted and they suspect that local gangs are sending false calls to divert LE from their target areas.

About 3PM a man and a woman show up in a canoe. One paddle. Ten family members in a house on B_______ street. 94 year old great aunt and an uncle who won't leave. I send three boats, {two guides} and two LE. Tell the LE to tell uncle he is under arrest and bring them out.

Carencro FD shows up with three boats and twelve Nuns. Sorry Sister but we must pick you up and carry you across the levee and into the big boats. Take the crab boat. It has a sunshade.

{The guides} lead the other crew back without the great aunt. She would not survive the open boat and rough handling we would subject her to. Got a GPS and reported it to FEMA for extraction by helo if possible. Left the uncle with his mother. {One guide} reaches down and washes his face in the dirty water. It is so hot. I drained my camel back and 5 bottles of water.

LE gets a call they have to return to the launch site.

There will be many "lessons learned" from Katrina - and endless discussions about "response time". But common sense indicates that it's the efforts of individuals and groups within a community that will make all the difference in the hours immediately following a disaster. Those hours are the time where some folks take positive action while others despair - or worse. We call the first group "heroes" in America.

Are there any in your neighborhood?

In your mirror?

Update: Others call them Sheepdogs, or Greys. Works for me.