Posted: 9/13/2005 3:52:58 PM EDT
This is from a friend of mine, an ex London cop flying a helo in NO. Hi All Quick update as to goings on here ... Two weeks after the storm and still attached to the Army Corps of Engineers and Boh Brothers. Major plan in effect to repair the damaged levees and they are doing a good job on the large breaches that get all the TV coverage (17th St Canal, London Avenue canal, Industrial canal). Chinooks and Blackhawks picking up and dumping 6 to 8000lb bags of sand/limestone into the breach and then the dozers push rock and dirt over the top sufficient to drive vehicles across. I spend a lot of time flying in these areas and constantly have to be aware of these large helos as the downwash below and behind can really affect my smaller machine. Spent 2 days flying a medic around dispensing vaccinations to various response personnel. I was his first patient so I got my Hepatitis A and B, along with Tetanus/Diptheria as well. Not that I had any plans of wading through the water but you never know. A large US Military transport rolled in to New Orleans and offloaded eight OH58 Kiowa helicopters. (You may have seen them in Iraq war tv footage - they have a big 'ball' above the rotorbades). They use these equipment-laden machines for spotting targets in the battlefield but they have heat seeking/thermal gear on board so it is believed they went into town at night trying to pinpoint the bands of armed thugs/looters roaming. Ranger units were inserted on the ground with night vision goggles and I think they had pretty specific orders .... We'll probably never hear the full story of this. Things have definitely calmed down here with respect to people shooting at aircraft and personnel. Soldiers and outside police agencies are here securing the city. A third of the NOPD never came back to work so that was a blow that disaster strategists probably never accounted for. Two are definitely known to have committed suicide. The water level has started to drop almost everywhere. Not by much in some places, maybe a foot or so 2 weeks after the storm, but it's a start. With the temporary pumps now installed better progress will be made. Of course, the sludge left behind will be another nightmare to be dealt with as a major fuel spill into the equation has left a mess. Thankfully it appears that death toll here will not be as catastrophic as once feared so that is something to be grateful for. Unsupervised, and it seems, abandoned elderly folks in hospitals and nursing homes have become casualties that have attracted a lot of attention from the authorities and I guess some people are going to find themselves in some pretty hot water over their actions or inaction. I spent yesterday flying south down the Mississippi river to inspect the levees and pump stations. The river is held at bay by man-made levees but they weren't high enough to withstand this Cat 4/5 storm. There must have been one hell of a tidal surge that came racing up the river because it just poured right over the top and turned the small communities either side into driftwood. Towns like Homeplace, Buras, Venice, Boothville, Triumph, Port Sulphur just got wiped out. If it didn't smash the houses to pieces it just picked them up off their foundations and carried them away leaving behind total flooding and destruction. Quite a sight. President Bush was in town yesterday but I was able to continue to fly despite the TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) imposed on the region. Although I had permission from the controlling P3 Orion above, I always had one eye open for the patrolling fast jets 'protecting the area' with orders to shoot down aircraft busting the airspace! There is a conspiracy theory doing the rounds on the internet claiming that the Army Corps of Engineers blew some of the levees a day after the storm in order to save the city/business district and sacrificed the poor neighbourhoods - a reckless and unhelpful thing to do especially since many will believe it and take it as gospel truth. So that's the latest from here. Not sure how much longer I will be needed up here as access to areas is improving. I may stay a while to assist power companies doing their surveys but we will see. Hope all is well with you all. Nigel/Spike
|
|
|