(Statewide) Sept. 9, 2005 - Enforcement Officers with
the SC Department of Natural Resources have
returned from a six-day deployment to the
hurricane-battered Gulf Coast. The group arrived at an
agency facility in West Columbia on Friday.
They say the destruction they saw is worse than the
pictures being broadcast.
"Thirty-eight DNR law enforcement officers with 19
boats were deployed to Louisiana on Friday, September 2,
2005," according to Col. Alvin Taylor, deputy director
for the Law Enforcement Division of the SC Department of
Natural Resources. "Their mission was to assist with
evacuations, provide security for utility companies
working to provide essential services and to respond to
911 telephone calls."
Sunday, DNR officers were first deployed to St.
Bernard Parish, about 25 miles southeast of New Orleans,
where they rescued seven individuals who were trapped in
their homes.
On Monday, they divided into two teams. One team went
into downtown New Orleans and evacuated 12 people.
The other team was deployed to Chalmette, LA to
assist with 911 call response and provide security
escorts for utility companies. Chalmette is also flooded
and lies just eight miles from downtown New Orleans.
Tuesday and Wednesday, DNR officers worked in
downtown New Orleans and around the area of the
Superdome. There, they performed over 30 rescues,
provided security for work crews and responded to
numerous 911 calls for help.
The officers departed New Orleans Thursday morning
and are expected back in Columbia on Friday, September
9, 2005.
"We're extremely proud of these brave officers who
willingly volunteered for this difficult and hazardous
assignment," Taylor said. "They endured and witnessed
some of the harshest working conditions, destruction and
devastation ever experienced in this country. All South
Carolinians can be proud of the way these fine officers
served their fellow Americans and represented their home
state."
Captain A. Scott Powell says those being rescued were
very grateful and often broke down emotionally once help
arrived. He says rescuers concentrated on rescuing
people, rather than the dead bodies in the water.
He says the emotional toll on rescue workers will
likely come over the next few weeks as they reflect on
the destruction.
Updated 12:41pm by Chantelle
Janelle with
AP
