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Hurricane
Katrina deployment
Members Involved
Full field team plus back fill and
others
assigned to
other FEMA/NDMS missions.
Activity History
Hurricane Katrina developed category 5 winds in the Gulf
of Mexico
over the last week of August after first crossing southern Florida. The
Dayton DMAT was Alerted and subsequently activated on the evening of
August
27. The storm struck the gulf coast on Monday, August 29. The
team
flew to Memphis and awaited the storm to pass. We were moved out on
Wednesday
morning to Biloxi were the team set up a medical and command tent next
to the Biloxi Regional Medical Center.
The team spent 12
days in the Biloxi area and saw
nearly 1800 patients.
The pictures just below show a few of the scenes
experiences and
memories of the team.
Above is a satellite picture of powerful hurricane Katrina, courtesy of
NOAA
Below are scenes that greeted us when we arrived. Destruction was heavy.
Above, one of the heavily damaged casinos.
Arriving in Biloxi the team errects their tents.
Our first Base of Operations appears above along side
the hospital
tent.
Our second Base of Operations, pictured below, was set
up where
the rubbish pile was above.
Pictured above at center is our enclosed 30 foot medical
tent and
20 foot command and communications tent. Note the Gulf of Mexico
between
the buildings at the top of the photo.
Our Commander and a hospital administrator talk next to
Communications
desk.
MN-1 DMAT was also a great help having a 5 man strike
team working with us for several days.
Our team angel, in
green, talks with a commo member. She
made sure individual
needs and even cravings were met. Driving 2 hours each day from her
home
in Pensacola Fl, she brought food, drink, clean cloths, soap, and much
more and would never hear of being reimbursed for her expenses.
Not
enough can be said of her selfless service and commitment to our team
members.
Above, our "off duty" members
clean up the yard of our adopted couple
who lived
next to our compound. Each day team members made sure they had
food,
water and other needs met. They wrote us in December saying, "You came - you and your wonderful team -
and gave us such a lift after the initial shock. Your mission may
have been medical but for us it was a huge booster shot for our morale
and a big infusion of optimism." ... "God bless you and all of your wonderful team. Each of you
is in our thoughts and prayers every day. You made it all bearable, and
for that we will be forever grateful."
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