A Gibsons man was one of 45 Vancouver-based rescue personnel who were first to bring aid to a town 40 km east of New Orleans.
Former Coast Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Bob Stubbings acted as a facilitator for the B.C. Heavy Urban Search And Rescue (HUSAR) team that saved 119 people stranded at the St. Bernard Parish in Chalmette, Louisiana between Aug. 31 and Sept. 6.
"Our team went into the parish and met the parish president and the fire chief who were just overwhelmed," said Stubbings. "The fire chief had 125 firefighters, and all but five of them had lost their own homes. They were working day and night trying to rescue people, and they were beat."
The community of Chalmette is home to about 66,000 people, most of whom were evacuated before hurricane Katrina hit. However, an estimated 6,000 people were housed in emergency shelters immediately following the storm, while others were trapped by the rising waters in their homes.
"A lot of people went up into their attics when the waters started rising, but the trouble is, of course, there's no way to get out of those attics," said Stubbings who noted the fire chief expects to find many people deceased in their attics once "body recovery" efforts are underway in the area.
Stubbings was asked to accompany the Vancouver-based HUSAR team into the area, as he now works as a regional manager for the Provincial Emergency Program (PEP).
"They wanted me there as a liaison person and to offer support to the team," said Stubbings.The team is made up of volunteers trained to work in disaster and other high-risk situations, including collapsed building sites, floods and earthquakes.
The team included search and rescue specialists, firefighters, doctors, paramedics, structural engineers, hazardous materials technicians and search dogs.
Stubbings has seen his share of disaster, even working as an investigator on the Air India bombing, but nothing he's seen compared to the devastation hurricane Katrina left behind.
"I guess it was almost surreal to see the damage in this place that was really built up. There was not a soul around and the streets were filled with water. It reminded me of a ghost town," said Stubbings. Upon arriving with the team at Lafayette airport, a member of the Louisiana State Police welcomed Stubbings and his crew with a sentence that summed up the mood.
"He said, 'welcome to hell.' He told us their radio communications were limited and there was no running water. The phones didn't work, and the power was out almost everywhere," said Stubbings.Reports of shots fired and looting sprees crackled over the radio while the state police tried to decide the best use of HUSAR's skills.
"That night we ended up at an elementary school that became our base. At first there was maybe a foot of water in the yard but it dried up while we were there. We also had power most of the time and running water," said Stubbings.
The team hauled their 8,000 pounds of gear to the school and set up tents for evacuees, rationed food and water and inspected the tools and equipment they would have to use in the morning.The next day the team used two prisoner-transport buses and a U-Haul truck to start their search and rescue efforts.
"We went into New Orleans into a docking facility where there was a group already out doing reconnaissance. That day there were some shots fired," said Stubbings.
Soon the team was called to St. Bernard Parish in Chalmette, a town left to fend for itself since Katrina first struck.
But getting to the town proved difficult, as some roadways were still under water.
The team secured some boats and made their way to the church where more than 100 people from the town had gathered.
"We were the first rescue personnel they had seen, and we were Canadian," said Stubbings, who noted some were upset their own government hadn't sent help sooner.
"They were disappointed we were not a U.S. crew, but they needed help and they didn't care who gave it to them."
The team started assessing injured people, treating them and evacuating them to the school, but one woman could not be saved.
"The lady was ill and she died inside our tent. She was the first injured person we evacuated and she was suffering from exposure. She was in bad shape," said Stubbings.
The death was hard for all to handle and reminded rescuers of what they were trying to prevent.In the next three days, HUSAR rescued 119 people stranded in Chalmette, treating most for dehydration and exposure to the elements.
By the end of HUSAR's efforts, the U.S. government had sent in 12 teams of their own to continue rescue efforts in the area, but the local team held a special place in the hearts of Chalmette's community.
"On the final day a lot of other residents started coming to the St. Bernard Parish, and the fire chief allowed us to fly the Canadian flag on top of the fire hall. He said we were the first to help and he wouldn't forget," said Stubbings.
The team flew back to Vancouver on Sept. 6 and resumed their daily jobs as paramedics, firefighters, doctors, engineers and emergency preparedness co-ordinators. Stubbings says their short stay in New Orleans will never be forgotten.
"It was a really rewarding experience for me and I have nothing but praise for the Vancouver team. It was quite an experience," said Stubbings.
