Reply #14: ANOTHER rescue team whose deployment was delayed: [View All]

[kath]

S.D. rescue crew said languishing in Houston

6:48 p.m. September 4, 2005

SAN DIEGO – Authorities say they are speeding up relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but 80 San Diego firefighters and paramedics sent to the Gulf Coast are languishing in Houston, a fire official said Sunday. "We're there, we're ready, it's up to (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to decide where we're needed," said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department.


Earlier this week, about 100 firefighters, lifeguards trained in swift- water rescues, paramedics, a doctor and a structural engineer from the San Diego area were sent to assist emergency personnel in Louisiana, Luque said. The lifeguards – who left before the firefighters – were put to work immediately, saving dozens of people from flooded buildings in New Orleans, Luque said.

But the firefighters, doctor and structural engineer from the regional Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 were diverted to Houston to await further instructions, he said. As of early this afternoon, 80 urban search and rescue members from San Diego were still in Houston, awaiting further instructions, Luque

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050904-1848-katrina.html

(I've been doing some Googling tonight re: various search-and-rescue teams. I've already mentioned that huge numbers of rescuers were stuck in Dallas and Georgia hotels for days. Now it looks like god-knows-how-many others were stuck in Houston. Another story indicated that Task Force 3 from California was also stuck in Houston as of Sept. 4.)