Dec. 31, 2007 - Hurricane Katrina
An interesting and little known part of the Fire Department is our Urban Search and Rescue team. There are several of them around the State and Nation... http://www.oes.ca.gov/Operational/OESHome.nsf/ALL/A6A7DA8D97D3975988256F5B00572028?OpenDocument
Ours is known as CATF-4. There are members from various Fire Departments in the area, and some members are even private citizens. Each member has a specific skill that makes them valuable to the team. Having long lost my sense of adventure, I have never undergone the rigorous training that is required to become a member of the team.
Our team and many others from around the nation went to Louisiana just after Hurricane Katrina devastated that area. You can learn more about the hurricane by going to...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
The following set of photographs was not taken by me, in fact I'm not sure who took them, other than it was a member of the team.
******
All of the Team members and equipment you will see in the subsequent photos arrived in New Orleans in the military cargo aircraft you see here.
After being unloaded at the airport, everything and everyone was re-loaded into helicopters, and moved to where the need was greatest.
And you thought riding in a Fire Engine was cool!!
Kids, don't try this at home.
Helicopters were everywhere.
Not only did the helicopters bring rescuers and equipment in, they took people out as well.
There were lots and lots of people that were trapped by the rising waters.
CATF-4 was sent in with their inflatable boats to search house by house, block by block to make sure that no one was left behind.
People WERE found, and brought to safety.
   This may be the loneliest photo I've ever seen.
 People were evacuated in all sorts of manners, by all sorts of agencies.
Think about the amount of work that goes into preparing a meal at church. Now multiply that effort by what you have seen here. This is just a portion of the drinking water that was distributed just so people could survive.
Our rescuers saw devastation.
Stairway to nowhere.
Mr. Reynolds was not the first to experiment with alternative parking methods.
I pray you never come home to see this.
I pray that you never consider it a good day when you merely find a photograph where your home once stood.
I pray you never find yourself in a situation where even the rescuers need to be rescued. (Its going to take a LOT of wax to bring those floors back!)
But if you are, take comfort in knowing that there are people in this great country of ours that will work so hard to protect you that even a parking lot looks like an attractive place to fall asleep.
 be safe,
Hec @ 19
| 
