THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510080068
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAVARRE BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Careening west on Route 98 under full state patrol escort, lights flashing on his jeep Cherokee, District Chief I.B. George was straining to keep up with a hulking National Guard Humvee in a caravan that was headed to the access bridge for Navarre Beach - ground zero for the destruction spawned by Hurricane Opal.
Between punching the accelerator and fielding messages on his radio, George was offering a running commentary on the logistics of deploying more than 70 rescue workers from across Hampton Roads to help dig this part of Florida out of its misery.
Sixty-two disaster-relief specialists and 10 drivers and support personnel had hit the road in Virginia at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, just three hours after the Hurricane moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico. They drove 22 hours in what one team member described as ``the most hellish bus ride of all time,'' much of it through the punishing rains that pushed across the Southeast in the edges of the storm.
Some members of Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 2 who were in this convoy had last been mobilized to search the bombed-out federal building in Oklahoma City this spring.
Organized in a cross between a military outfit and a well-run business, Task Force 2 is a tactical response team that carries physicians and paramedics, search-and-rescue specialists, canine search teams, hazardous materials experts, and specialists in structural engineering, heavy rigging, communications and logistics.
Teams like this were formed across the country by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after harsh criticism of slow government response to hurricanes Hugo and Andrew. The Gulf Coast operation is the second deployment outside Virginia for Task Force 2.
The group also includes a full-time video camera operator to document their work.
``We use what we've learned, what we've seen, and what we'll document on tape, in our training,'' George said. That information can filter through the city governments of Hampton Roads to help prepare for the day when a storm like Hurricane Opal hits home.
In the midst of this briefing, brake lights flared ahead and George mashed the pedal and whipped to a stop behind a Humvee. A serious traffic accident had occurred directly in front of the convoy. People were hurt and one was trapped in a car that sat broken on the roadway. As the four Humvees and three off-road trucks pulled over, rescue specialists swarmed to the scene. A doctor and paramedics from the Virginia team attended to the injured, and firefighters whipped out rescue gear to free the trapped passenger.
When local fire and ambulance crews arrived, the situation was stabilized and Task Force 2 members were directing traffic. Stunned, the Florida crews offered thanks.
As Task Force 2 loaded back into the Humvees, Virginia Beach Fire Capt. Buddy Martinette ducked his head toward his chief's vehicle and said, laughing, nodding toward the wrecked car, ``You know it's your lucky day when you get in a wreck and 15 of the most highly-trained SOB's in the country bail out to help you.''
Within minutes, the convoy was back on the road, headed for a barrier island where they would continue searching for victims of the storm.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANES HURRICANE OPAL FLORIDA
RELIEF by CNB