When a disaster like this happens why can't our military take Infrared satellite pictures for the rescuers to help them find trapped people ???
The people are either dead or buried under debris. A satellite would be two high up anyway. Flying through with a copter would not be a bad idea to have a chance of finding a live victim who might be only partially buried.....
I helped clean up after Floyd hit NC and after the tornadoes that hit NC weeks ago. The Feds do not help with the physical clean up at all. FEMA pays to pick up the debris. The physical labor of cleaning out a flooded house or the debris from a house destroyed by a storm is done by volunteers, paid for by insurance or out of the victim's pocket.
This really ticked me off with Floyd. I went down east to provide security when areas were still flooded and then got a group of people to head back to clean up. A dozen of us cleaned out three houses in a day. Imagine what a platoon of Marines could do in a flooded small town. NC had/has a Marine air wing and division, a couple of Air Force wings, and the 82nd Airborne all near the flooded areas but there were not seen.
Pissed me off.
I can see them not be able to help today with a war to fight, but back then, there was no excuse. The US Military should not be some abstract entity that the taxpayer never sees. They should be out helping clean up after these disasters.
The first trip down east the National Guard, Red Cross and the Mennonites were our working. WHERE the Mennonites came from I do not have a clue but they impressed the heck out of me. They took over a building to create supply depot for food and clothing. The women ran that operation while the men were out working clean out houses. This was before the flood waters were down.
A week later we went back to the same town to help clean up. The Baptists had brought in a tractor trailer support center. The trailer had showers, toilets, and a kitchen. They had brought in young people to clear out the houses while the older men did construction.
The Mennonites were still there. We stopped at their location first to meet up with my contact who took a few minutes to arrive. Those Mennonite women do not like idle hands since they just put us to work.
A platoon would have been a huge increase in help for that town. It would have been good PR for the service and the government. It would have be a huge help to the people in need. The service members would have liked to have helped. It would have been good for the morale of the taxpayer and the service members.
I helped cleanup a house destroyed by a tornado. The owner and two other people across the road were killed. The two houses across the road were strewn over a hundreds of yards of farm land and then into some woods. The house I worked on was flipped over 360 degrees and rotated 90. Well, only half the house went 180 degrees. It was a double wide modular or trailer. One side ended roof up while the other was floor up. Even with the help of two CUTS and a dozen or more people cleaning we barely got into the debris pile.
After a solid day of work we had mostly cleaned up one module of the house but there could easily have been 3-4 bodies in the pile. Under the other side of the house there could have been a dozen bodies and we would not have seen them. We knew there was only one person in the house and she was found right after the storm outside the house. My guess was she was thrown/sucked from the house when it rotated 360 degrees.
The neighbors and volunteers cleaned up this house and the other three taken out by the storm. A group of 30 people came in from VA that weekend to finish the cleanup. They stayed at area churches and houses. They somehow even cleaned up the debris in the woods. :thumbsup:
If you are ever near a disaster area, pack up the truck with a chainsaw, food, water, axe, wheel barrow, pry bars, a good pair of gloves and go help out. If you can haul the tractor even better. The people need it. The psychological boost of seeing people they have never met, from far away, swooping in to help the them is huge.
You will feel better for helping, as will they who receive the help.
Later,
Dan
