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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] deployments

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] deployments
  • Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 21:22:31 -0700


----- Original Message ----- From: "irvin lichtenstein" <ilichten1@verizon.net>
FEMA stated for the press that 25 USAR Teams had been activated, 40 DMATs,
FEMA satcom units,
and numerous aviation (helicopter) assets, and every fish warden in Texas
with a boat. This seems to be all the non-military resources in the USA. The
problem is they are being activated now, not 5-10 days prior to the storm.

Too bad we weren't aware 5-10 days before Katrina hit the Gulf coast that the storm status would be category 4 hurricane and the levee would later be breeched in several locations to flood the city. If nothing else, given that much notice lots of people who are now stranded could have been evacuated previously by bus or other transport if they weren't able to transport themselves. ;-/

Major Ooops just discovered is someone greatly over-estimated the safe / legal shelter capacity of the Astrodome. Thousands of evacuees are en route and the Astrodome is already at capacity per the State Fire Marshall. So someone is scrambling to open and staff additional shelters. Prior to that San Antonio already started preparing to open another large shelter. Hospitals in surrounding states will also rapidly be overwhelmed as the evacuations continue. If nothing else, a serious logistical challenge just trying to deal with the population of entire cities being transplanted into other cities in the region with not much more than the clothes on their back.

-Jorene





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