Guntersville, AL - By now everyone has heard or read something about the April 27th tornado outbreak in the Southern U.S. But many of you might not realize that this one day of storms affected four of our sixteen districts (D5-SR, D7, D8-CR and D8-ER).

One storm track alone traveled through three districts leaving devastation along its path. This storm (see track map) was reported to have lasted 7 hours and 24 minutes, traveling for 380 miles.

Buck Island Twin Tornados

On April 27th, multiple sites on the internet reported 211 tornados documented (53 in north Alabama alone) and 309 storm-related fatalities from multiple states. The twister photo, dubbed the Buck Island twin tornados, hit the writer’s house and neighborhood. I only had 10 trees come down and cause minor roof damage. One of our neighbors, Bob Siemens, of Flotilla 24-2, D8-ER lost most of his property along with damage to his home (see Devastation photo).

Bob’s area of the neighborhood still does not have power, water, phone, cable or internet as of May 18th, 2011.

Devastation

Taking on the Challenge of Communication

In the Eighth Eastern District, Divisions 12, 16 and 24, were hit the hardest by the tornados, straight line winds and hail storms while Divisions 8 and 11 dealt with flooding in some areas and potential flooding in other areas of our district.

District Commodore Rick Washburn put into action our new communication tool, “Everbridge.” This system sent out an automatic communication via phone/email and texting to everyone in Division 24. One problem - all means of communications were wiped out in most of Division 24. Only about 60+ of our 115+ members of Division 24 were able to respond to the “Everbridge” request.

Attempts to reach personnel by road were made and in some cases were not possible. The photo “Richard walking away from members home” is Richard Miles, Assistant District Operations Officer. He walking the long path of debris after checking on Bob Siemens’ home after it was cleared by volunteers.

Richard Miles walking away from Bob Siemans home

It took 3 days for volunteers to cut their way through the trees blocking the road on Buck Island. The Guntersville Fire Department, Marshall County Rescue Squad and Alabama Marine Police spent three days checking on the residences of Buck Island by water.

After the road re-opened, access was restricted by the National Guard to prevent looting.

Aftermath and Clean-up

Other areas in Division 24 were hit hard and there were many members reporting damages exceeding $25,000. While Division 24 was dealing with the aftermath of cleaning up the debris from the tornados, District Commodore Rick Washburn and District Captain-South Jim Myers worked diligently to account for all of their members. It would take seven days for all Division 24 members to be accounted for and it was reported that there were no fatalities or injuries to any members.

Clean-up

The difficulty in contacting our members of Division 24 was caused by degraded communication capabilities from widespread power outages, phone lines down, cell phone towers down or out of generator fuel, no internet, road closures, and curfews.

Walt Whitacre, Division Commander; DeAnne Rodengburg, Vice Division Commander; and Auxiliarists Carl Rodenburg, George Chesebro, Carol Chesebro, Sandra Merlo, Richard Miles and Lynn Miles spent hours trying to contact their members by either phone or by going to their homes. There were no fatalities or injuries reported in Division 24.

Turning Attention to Divisions 12 & 16

Division 12 in the Knoxville, TN area was hit hard by the storms and lots of devastating hail and trees were down across Knoxville. Division 12 Flotilla 7 was also sent the “Everbridge” message on the morning of the 28th. All of their members were accounted for by that evening and none were injured.

Division 16 in the Chattanooga/Cleveland, TN area was also hit hard by tornados. Authorization for Flotilla 16-9 to assist Bradley County Emergency Management (EMA) in performing door to door searches was requested and received thorough the Director of Auxiliary in ten minutes. District Commodore Rick Washburn was given the authority to "Do the right thing." Washburn stated “This shows how much respect the Coast Guard has for our people and decisions we made. This was not just a D8-ER success, but all the way up to Washington.”

During the door to door search, members found an elderly man in medical distress. He needed oxygen and had been out of it for days. Auxiliarists Stephen McLain and William J. McGarvey called 911 and later assisted Emergency Medical Technicians. Television crews that had been monitoring the radio chatter showed up and interviewed our members.

While checking the area, Auxiliarist Jim Armour noticed, at a major intersection, a gentleman passing out food and water free (at his own expense). After talking with EMA and the gentleman, Jim helped establish this location as a major check point for the personnel working in this area and persons living in this area. The teams could have a place to gather and receive information along with a central location for food and water. EMA agreed and sent in trucks with food and water.

Flotilla 16-9 also supported the local Salvation Army and Southern Baptist Association by following up with the needs of the storm victims. Members of Division 16 also assisted the community with clearing driveways of debris and tree limbs and putting on tarps.

Two Members from Flotilla 16-9 also assisted the EMA communications center for three days. Auxiliarists Gregory and Virginia Johnson are ham operators and worked at the emergency Incident Command System Headquarters in Cleveland, TN..

Other Flotilla 16-9 Auxiliarists assisting were Doris Armour, Terry Couch, Keith Herrin, Rick Lewallen, Rick Waters, Tommy Lundsford, Ray Mcknight, Guido R. Achata and Flotilla Commander Jim Armour.

When you hear the stories that unfolded after “Our Perfect Storm,” the feelings of warmth and compassion and neighbor helping neighbor were overwhelming. It was an opportunity to bring out the best in everyone! I think we all passed this test. After assessing their own situation, Auxiliarists turned their attention and support to other members and neighbors.

In the end, there was much pride in volunteering to help the community!

 

 

 

~efl 05-21-11