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Hurricane Katrina
Diego and I deployed to Hurricane Katrina on 8/29/05 with USAR State Task Force 4 for a 7 day deployment.
We entered Jackson county Mississipi early Tuesday morning after Hurricane Katrina passed through. We began our searches in the city of Fountainbleau and Gulfpark. Then we moved on to Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, and Orange Park. On the fifth day we moved into Harrison county to Biloxi, MS. There we assisted Task Force 3 with the final grid search areas. Due to the nature of our searching I did not have time or space to carry a camera. However, on the last day in Biloxi some team mates happened to catch a few shots of Diego and I working. Here are those pictures.
Above pictures are from a neighborhood in Biloxi. Similar to what we experienced all week long, the houses in the pictures appearing intact are actually gutted with most of the backsides missing. The debris in front are from houses all around and from houses down the street which got completely demolished.
K-9 Diego gives K-9 Trapper a "mouth wash" after they teamed up to search a neighborhood block that was left in ruins. After searching solo all week (from a K-9 perspective), both Diego and I were happy to have some help from fellow team mate Marshia Hall and her K-9 to finish up our week long deployment.
This picture was also taken on the fifth day of searching. We used a Biloxi Fire Station as a staging area. If you look closely, you can see a very fatigued me and a wet/de-contaminated Diego off to the right. For your viewing convenience, the picture on the right is a zoom up of what the cat dragged in (in my defense, I did have bronchitis the entire deployment). I am sitting on Diego's medical box and gear.
After a 13 hour drive on day 7 we finally pulled back in to the Orlando rally point of Primrose.
There we were met by family and media. Diego was in a coma sleep when we arrived and just waking up as we were met by the tv crews to provide interviews.
After that, it was a 1.5 hour drive home and a few days of rest. We will be getting back to our regular training shortly in preparation for "whatever" comes next.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE!
Last Updated 9/8/05 |
