More on the hurricane disaster

[JackDidley]

And now there is another storm on the way.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Looks like the assistant goober fire chief interrupted the interview. They should be more concerned about that Smoke detector hanging off the wall !

Better respect my authoritY


The ego of these public servants is pathetic

[Bill Douglas]

I think fire chief needs a different job. Maybe stacking shelves in a supermarket.

[VINMAN]

Just for the record , not all us fire chiefs are aholes like him..

While I understand why he did that, he did a very poor job of handling it. He should have let the guy go back get the husband, return him. Then explain the proper procedures.

.

[URY914]

Not so fast with the BRP ideas

https://www.yahoo.com/news/scenic-blue-ridge-parkway-remains-175931722.html

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Just for the record , not all us fire chiefs are aholes like him..

While I understand why he did that, he did a very poor job of handling it. He should have let the guy go back get the husband, return him. Then explain the proper procedures.

.

I didn't watch the video ....

Thank you Vinny

[VINMAN]

My take on this...

Iv'e spent the past 34yrs as a firefighter, 18 of which in a chief's position, which I still hold as dept Chief.

Iv'e spent the past 14 yrs on a state/FEMA USAR team. Many as a high rank officer, second in command of the deployment. Iv'e been on every hurricane deployment since. People than haven't worked in these disaster areas have no idea what it takes to deal with it.
Even though we deploy as a FEMA asset, you still have to answer to the AHJ ( Authority Having Jurisdiction..). They are the ones that set the Rules Of Engagement 75% of the time. Plenty of times its a guy like that chief in the video that you are dealing with. Some are extremely cooperative, some are egotistical morons. You have people that change the ROE 5 times in a day which is extremely frustrating and counter productive.

One example, during Hurricane Florence, we were sent to one town by the county OEM, to set up evacuation plans. The town sat along the Cape Fear river. I did a pre-recon meeting with the county and locals, along with my rescue manager and engineer. While at the meeting a state wildlife officer told us he had found a levee breach along the river. My engineer wanted to look at it. We hopped in a helo to look at it. When we got back to town, we reviewed the flood zone maps. My engineer did all these calculations, and predicted the levee breach would increase and fail.
We told the local authorites, who thought we were crazy, and would take our advice to start evacuating the town. the fire chief told us they didnt want our help and basically go back up North. Yankee go home. We tried pleading with them but no go. So we left.
Following morning we get a call, the firehouse we had the meeting at was under 6 feet of water and they were pleading for our help. At that point roads were inaccessible to get back there.

One of the biggest issues with these things is accountability, controlling who goes in the areas, tracking missing, etc.. You get a lot of well meaning people that want to help out, that have zero business being there. Which puts a possible additional burden on responders. Ground Zero on 9/11 was prime example of that.

I completely sympathize with that chiefs frustration. But i would have handled it totally different. Let the guy quickly finish that mission. Then direct him the proper way to provide help.

This is the first deployment that I haven't been on. But talking to my guys that are there deep in the sheeot, other than getting our teams in place before hand and putting us to work, there is a huge sense of failure otherwise by the feds to provide what is needed.

.

[HobieMarty]

https://youtu.be/MYdC-6nShdc?si=LSyrmWOTzs18qDxq

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

My take on this...

Iv'e spent the past 34yrs as a firefighter, 18 of which in a chief's position, which I still hold as dept Chief.

Iv'e spent the past 14 yrs on a state/FEMA USAR team. Many as a high rank officer, second in command of the deployment. Iv'e been on every hurricane deployment since. People than haven't worked in these disaster areas have no idea what it takes to deal with it.
Even though we deploy as a FEMA asset, you still have to answer to the AHJ ( Authority Having Jurisdiction..). They are the ones that set the Rules Of Engagement 75% of the time. Plenty of times its a guy like that chief in the video that you are dealing with. Some are extremely cooperative, some are egotistical morons. You have people that change the ROE 5 times in a day which is extremely frustrating and counter productive.

One example, during Hurricane Florence, we were sent to one town by the county OEM, to set up evacuation plans. The town sat along the Cape Fear river. I did a pre-recon meeting with the county and locals, along with my rescue manager and engineer. While at the meeting a state wildlife officer told us he had found a levee breach along the river. My engineer wanted to look at it. We hopped in a helo to look at it. When we got back to town, we reviewed the flood zone maps. My engineer did all these calculations, and predicted the levee breach would increase and fail.
We told the local authorites, who thought we were crazy, and would take our advice to start evacuating the town. the fire chief told us they didnt want our help and basically go back up North. Yankee go home. We tried pleading with them but no go. So we left.
Following morning we get a call, the firehouse we had the meeting at was under 6 feet of water and they were pleading for our help. At that point roads were inaccessible to get back there.

One of the biggest issues with these things is accountability, controlling who goes in the areas, tracking missing, etc.. You get a lot of well meaning people that want to help out, that have zero business being there. Which puts a possible additional burden on responders. Ground Zero on 9/11 was prime example of that.

I completely sympathize with that chiefs frustration. But i would have handled it totally different. Let the guy quickly finish that mission. Then direct him the proper way to provide help.

This is the first deployment that I haven't been on. But talking to my guys that are there deep in the sheeot, other than getting our teams in place before hand and putting us to work, there is a huge sense of failure otherwise by the feds to provide what is needed.

.

Excellent.

Thank you.

[KFC911]

Thank you Vinny ... local egos (particularly in more rural areas), turf issues..., and stuff, .... and Yankee go home nonsense, etc.

There are idiots that walk amongst us .... in every state and every facet of life ....

I've seen it first hand ... just not from your position and perspective.

Folks like you .... are freakin' awesome...

NC thanks you .... and everyone like you

[KFC911]

Local news is reporting several thousand Nat.Guard from NC and from surrounding states ... 1K from Ft Bragg and another 1K from Ft. Campbell ????.

Never heard of it ....

100K+ still with no power ... choppers are planting poles one-by-one in remote, inaccessable areas ... still.

It's a drop in the bucket and just the beginning of what the people need ... and will continue to need.

Thank you all who are helping .... it's amazing how folks are stepping up ... it will take time... a long time.

[KFC911]

Edited: Well stated, KC.

Vinny, thank you.

Let's keep this thread here.

[Seahawk]

I know there is no comparison with NC, but in the spirit of people helping, the amount of work my kids did in Aiken was very much appreciated, especially getting generators up and running.

A fan and charging electronics changes so much for the better.

Power came on last night.

From the house looking at the stable:



Looking up.



Let's keep this thread positive and respectful...there is a PARF novel being written as I type. Post there if need be.

Newphew was asleep in the apartment, poinies in the stall closest to where the tree feww.

[CurtEgerer]

Some perspective on these so-called 'historic' storms. Everything seems to be labeled "historic" these days by the fearmongers in the media. But what does it mean? I assume it's the extent of personal and property damage, not the size of the storm. Most people seem to confuse historic to mean a storm so large, it's never occurred before. Asheville had a major storm 110 years ago when the population was only 10,000. There's 10x the people and buildings there today. So, of course, it's historic: there's never been this many people and buildings in the path of a storm before. If Helene had been confined to the middle of the Everglades, it wouldn't get a mention no matter it's size or intensity. Remain calm

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Lots of folks have used the V2L capability on some of the EV cars to power their A/C and total house electric load.
Some have up to 100 Kwh batteries.
This allows disconnect of city power and plug into the EV.
No howling generators with lots of amps.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

Lots of folks have used the V2L capability on some of the EV cars to power their A/C and total house electric load.
Some have up to 100 Kwh batteries.
This allows disconnect of city power and plug into the EV.
No howling generators with lots of amps.

Fact check

[fintstone]

How many weeks should folks expect to wait for Federal assistance after a disaster? Seems pretty slow. Are they waiting for the next big storm to provide a distraction?

Asheville may have been hit...but so was the entire west end of the state. Other folks deserve help as much as the city dwellers.

[KFC911]

FEMA/Fed seems to be doing everything they can... as is everyone else.

Contact Senator Thom Tillis with any complaints .... seriously!

He or his office want to know about any issues...

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

Lots of folks have used the V2L capability on some of the EV cars to power their A/C and total house electric load.
Some have up to 100 Kwh batteries.
This allows disconnect of city power and plug into the EV.
No howling generators with lots of amps.

Umm.....did the electricity in those batteries just magically appear? Is this kinda like 'we don't need to kill animals there is plenty of meat at the grocery store!'?

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by KC911

FEMA/Fed seems to be doing everything they can... as is everyone else.

Contact Senator Thom Tillis with any complaints .... seriously!

He or his office want to know about any issues...

He already knows full well that lots of folks are suffering. CBS News: "Tillis said Sunday that most roads in the region likely remained closed due to flooding and debris. Water, electricity and other essential services still have not been fully restored."

He needs to stop making excuses for the Feds and the state. If not for private help, there would be almost none. Weeks to restore water, power, and internet is really not acceptable. Similarly, all roads should be passable...if only a rough one lane.

NC National Guard should have been out in force immediately...not waiting for other state's guard to lead the way. The same with regular military. The Governor is really not doing his job...much less the Fed. It has been far too long for there to have been so little action outside of big cities.