Area relief workers lend a hand along Gulf Coast in the wake of recent hurricanes

Date published: 9/20/2008

By RUSTY DENNEN

Victims of Hurricane Ike, which hit the Texas coast last weekend, have gotten plenty of help from the Fredericksburg area.

Mark Stone with the Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department had a dual role--coordinating nine search-and-rescue teams for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and as a member of Virginia Task Force 1, an urban search-and-rescue organization from Fairfax County.

Stone, who joined the Stafford department in March, went to the Gulf Coast prior to Hurricane Gustav, and headed home yesterday.

As a FEMA worker, he said, "We were letting the community know we're here and working closely with the state of Texas and local authorities."

The search-and-rescue teams worked for three days straight after Ike, primarily in Galveston, Beaumont and Port Arthur--all hard-hit areas along the coast, said Stone, who lives in Spotsylvania County.

Three other members of Virginia Task Force 1 also went to the area: Don Booth of Stafford, Theresa McPherson of Fauquier County and Dean Cox of Spotsylvania.

And it has been a busy couple of weeks for LifeCare Medical Transports. The Stafford-based company has about 300 employees at more than a dozen locations across Virginia.

On Aug. 29, 11 ambulances and two-person crews loaded up and left as Hurricane Gustav approached Louisiana. LifeCare also was contracted by FEMA.

Its ambulance crews worked out of a staging area in Alexandria, La., and transferred patients from hospitals and nursing homes along the coast to safer spots inland.

"They've had some real long days," said LifeCare President Kevin Dillard.

As they worked in Louisiana, Tropical Storm Hanna came ashore in the Carolinas on Sept. 3, eventually drenching central Virginia. By Sept. 7, FEMA released LifeCare to head home.

But with Ike pummeling the Caribbean, Dillard thought the rescue crews should remain in place for a possible deployment to Texas.

Hours after most of the ambulances returned to Virginia, FEMA wanted them in Texas within 24 hours.

"I said that was physically impossible," Dillard said. He still had one ambulance in Georgia on the way back, and one in Mississippi with mechanical problems, so he was able to assemble one crew and ambulance to send to Texas.

Virginia has sent lots of help to Gulf Coast states affected by recent hurricanes. Utility workers and first responders have been working for weeks in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. According to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries sent 21 people and 19 boats to Jennings, La., to support the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The Virginia Department of Forestry sent a management team to assist the Texas Forest Service. A number of Virginia localities also sent workers and equipment to the affected areas. --Rusty Dennen

Date published: 9/20/2008