They’re equipped with Black Hawk helicopters, boats and high-water vehicles. And in case of disaster, they’re ready.
Nearly 1,000 Louisiana National Guard members stationed statewide converged at three practice facilities to run trial air, water and ground search-and-rescue operations this week.
The disaster-response exercises — an annual effort since Hurricane Katrina — are scheduled in March or April each year ahead of hurricane season’s start in June. The guardsmen, though, prepare for all disasters, including floods, fires, oil spills and tornadoes, said Sgt. 1st Class Denis Ricou.
“The three main priorities we have are to save lives, reduce suffering and protect property,” said Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis. “So we’re making sure that we’re prepared, and that where our systems are incomplete or have gaps, that during this rehearsal we can go back and fill them.”
At the Bonnet Carre Spillway outside New Orleans on Saturday, a guardsman descended from a Black Hawk to swipe a stranded civilian and practice a safe airlift. Boats buzzed across the water, searching for people drowning and returning them to land.
Rescues even included pets, as the Guard learned during Katrina relief efforts, when saving people often required taking their dogs and cats, too.
The training, the Guard says, is paying off. During 2016’s three floods, over 20,000 people and 3,500 pets were rescued.
Those efforts require more than the National Guard, though. Representatives from the state police, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, and 32 other agencies were on hand at Saturday’s training to perfect “interoperability,” a common refrain throughout the exercises.
“Disasters don’t care about organizational jurisdictions,” said Col. Michael Clancy, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans.
Ricou said various relief agencies often use differing jargon and processes that make communication during crises complicated. This week’s exercises, then, seek to streamline collaboration to provide the best possible relief.
At the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility, guardsmen and agency representatives gathered in tents and around vehicles to discuss strategies for continuing operations when cell service and other communications fail.
The Guard also set up a practice “lily pad operation,” a command center established during an emergency where guardsmen drop rescued civilians. There, they receive medical support, security and transportation, with the help of local and state partners.
Other Louisiana guardsmen trained at the Regional Staging Area in Roseland.
For the Guard and other officials, the annual disaster relief exercises have produced confidence in their rescue capabilities.
“There’s no state better prepared than this state,” said Mark Cooper, chief of staff for Gov. John Bel Edwards.
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