"When they saw the help come after three or four days of not hearing or seeing anybody, they just started weeping and threw their arms around our team leader."
That's the sort of emotions that surrounded those who experienced the rescue effort for Hurricane Katrina - including Squamish resident John Willcox.
Willcox, a member of Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) as well as the Squamish Search and Rescue, returned from Louisiana with the crew of 46 rescuers on Tuesday, Aug. 6, and there are now "Canadian flags flying everywhere" in St. Bernard Parish, according to Louisiana State Senator Walter Basso.
The team spent six days in St. Bernard Parish, La., rescuing a total of 119 stranded residents of the area which was thought to be the hardest hit by hurricane Katrina and had been out of communication with state police for several days. Vancouver USAR was deployed to assist the Louisiana State Police until federal agencies could arrive and the reception they received was overwhelming, said Willcox.
"They couldn't believe that Canadians had come down to help; they were very, very appreciative."
Willcox has been with Vancouver USAR since its inception in 1995. The team has been trying to extend its expertise internationally, but bureaucratic red tape has hindered deployment.
"We got the official notice for deployment to New York City [during 9/11]," said Willcox. "But because of the delay of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] to make an assessment of that area, by the time we were ready to go they had recognized that there were no survivors, so we were cancelled before we left."
This time connections with a Baton Rouge rope rescue trai-ning centre facilitated the team's entry into the area - a task which took al-most three days of negotiations.
The team had seen the aerial shots of flooded towns and cities, but being in the middle of it was still stunning, said Willcox."It was amazing to see just how widespread it was and to be there and feel the heat and the smell of the water," he said. "It was a bit surreal, but it wasn't particularly disturbing. We only encountered live victims - some were sick - needing evacuation, so it was all a positive experience, although one lady did die. But it wasn't the floating bodies that people said."The team was sent to St. Bernard Parish instead of New Orleans because of the potential risk of the city's looters and people reportedly shooting at police, said Willcox.
"We were never threatened and never felt threatened," he said.
Rescue operations are always dangerous, however.
"There's always a certain degree of risk and danger in standing water where you can't see through it because it was just black with mud and soil and sewage and everything else," said Willcox. "And of course there was the threat of infection or disease. It had been standing now for several days so we had to take precautions."
Willcox said that perhaps the hardest thing for the team emotionally was that many pets were left behind.
"When they're hungry, scared and thirsty there is a risk for us so we weren't to expose ourselves to that potential danger," he said. "There were other people coming into deal with that situation, although there were a few rules broken and a few dogs evacuated."
The rescue efforts undertaken in Louisiana were "a boost to the crew's moral," said Willcox who shows no sign of slowing down. He even took part in a long line rescue of an injured rock climber at Murrin Park within hours of returning from Louisiana.
"For our team things couldn't have worked better," he said.
"With our connections, our timing, we were able to get in and do our job for that many days until the American resources were in place."
The team returned to a heroes' welcome on Aug. 6, but felled by exhaustion, the team deffered questions until a press conference the following day.
"The US ambassador to Canada, David Wilkes, came out and personally thanked us for about half an hour," said Willcox.
"He couldn't say enough nice about us. So that was really nice that we were recognized, although we didn't need it or expect it."spaillard@squamishchief.com
