Where you at my friend? I'm a ranch, horse, cattle person in my prior life(s). The common enemy for all of is, I think, LACK of water, or too much water.

Martin, I hear you loud and clear. We too have been hung up in the bureaucratic boondoggle, mainly at the local level.

Last Tuesday, I contacted our Swiftwater Task Force Coordinator, to see if we were planning on responding or at the very least determining what resources would be available for deployment, if requested. He was ill and could work on anything, he told me to contact our County Emergency Manager (CEM) and Department of Fire/rescue Services (DFRS) Volunteer Coordinator, as any requests would come from FEMA, through MEMA (Maryland Emergency Management Agency) to the county DFRS and CEM. I called him and had to leave a voice mail message, to this date he has never called me back. I did receive back a call form our DFRS Vol. Coord, he said that any requests for assistance would be forwarded to all of the Chiefs and Specialty Team Leaders. He said no plans were currently been made or should be made to determine available resources unless and until a formal request came thorough.

With that, we made our planned trip to LI to visit relatives. Meanwhile I received an e-mail from the National Assoc for Search and Rescue (their e-news letter) asking Swiftwater Teams and others (EMS, Fire)to register with the National clearing house and to contact the USCG and LO Gov. Office with available resources. I called our Team Leader and provided him the information. He contacted the DFRS Vol. Coord. and gave him this information along with my recommendation to poll area Fire Companies to find out if there were deployable resources available, if requested. He was told that no resourcing would be performed unless and until the request came through and then only after they (DFRS) met with the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to formalize any request for support.

By not resourcing our county?s deployable assets and not registering them on one of various registries, they ensured we would never be called.

DFRS and local EMA is first meeting today with the BOCC to discuss what liabilities, personal health monitoring requirements and general impact on community assets if a request came through and they decided to support any effort to deploy personal/equipment. In my mind, this should have been done last Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, but they dragged their feet on this one long enough, so the issue will become moot.

I do not get mad that often, but I am fuming <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />and truly ashamed of our local DFRS and County Government for their inaction during this crisis.

Pete

What most influences the delay until help arrives? Is the the number of people affected, or the geographical distance the help must travel to reach you, or what?

My understanding is that 72 hours is OK for a normal disaster but not a big one. I am not sure what "big" means.

Another wagon alternative that I use for all sorts of things, including hauling camping gear from truck to site where drive-up is not available.

http://www.tipkemfg.com/

I guess I'm never getting deployed.

I have a truck with Chainsaws, Winching Equipment, A gross of work gloves, a case of toilet paper, Drinking water, and all the rest, and here I sit typing again.

I've read messages from guys who said the hell with it and started drivign south - and they were turned back for lack of proper documentation. I don't know what the hell is going on here, but it stinks to high heaven and I hope that we all remember this come election day. Remember the thousands dead and the millions displaced - and the TENS OF THOUSANDS who tried to help and were refused!

I have to believe that the problem is mostly at the state coordinator level. I heard yesterday that our Emergency group is heading out next Tuesday for body recovery detail in NO.

I can appreciate your frustration, it's too bad that in today's world, alot of the State Emergency Management people as well as National...don't really know what to do or how to do it. Just an observation. I read a story that the Red Cross was ready and willing to go into NO immediately after the storm, but the LA Emergency Mangement group stopped them. Read Story Here
I still haven't seen anyone from LA in charge in NO...at very least the Gov of the state should have some role. Good grief after 9-11 Rudy was all over the place. Giving orders...It's all local SNAFU.

Still I hope that if you do go, keep your head down and if you run into any guys from Oklahoma tell em Howdy!

No. Soory, it's not local, its national. The latest, per CNN, is that FEMA is asking evacuees for a physical address to which to send their check in lieu of a debit card.