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Tuesday, September 6, 2005
N.M. Guard Helps Secure Flooded Parish
By Miguel Navrot
Journal Staff Writer
BELLE CHASSE, La.— Landing in a largely flooded, coastal parish with no working telephones and sparse electricity, more than 300 New Mexico National Guardsmen have encamped to help make the area safe again.
Sitting on the southeast peninsula of Louisiana, much of Plaquemines Parish remains trapped under water. The 27,000 parish residents are still under an evacuation order, although an estimated few hundred still remain.
"All of us here are volunteers," said Master Sgt. Laura Martinez, one of the 20 or so airmen with the guard's 150th Security Forces Squadron who arrived Sunday. "I think we're all in the same boat. We all want to help any way we can."
The New Mexico guardsmen left homes, jobs and college classes on orders of Gov. Bill Richardson. Their assignment may go on for a month or longer.
Sunday evening, less than 24 hours after 70 of the deployed guardsmen landed on an Air Force C-5 cargo jet, local authorities began deputizing the newly arrived New Mexicans.
Their duties for the next few weeks will include patrolling the remaining dry areas.
And although residents of Jefferson Parish were allowed to visit their homes on Monday, the New Mexicans were told to guard entry points in their area to keep residents out.
Some might sneak past roadblocks and try to return to their homes to see for themselves the damage, the guardsmen were told. Only emergency workers and other authorized officials are permitted.
"They own the property. They own the stuff they want to get to," Lt. Col. Richard Almeter, squadron commander of the 150th, told the assembled troops who will help the police officers and sheriff deputies remaining here. "The problem is, they're not allowed right now."
Four deputies with the parish have quit their jobs since the hurricane struck, leaving the others to work extended shifts, usually away from their own families.
It may get worse
Plaquemines Parish is a rural stretch south of New Orleans that hugs the Mississippi River. Many residents here were oil and gas pipeline workers.
On larger properties, some horse corrals are still intact. Occasionally, an owner can be found loading their animals on trailers to move elsewhere.
"We haven't seen any people, at least not in this area yet," said 2nd Lt. Troy Lindig, 34, of Albuquerque. He was among the first airmen patrolling the roads of Belle Chasse. "The devastation is overwhelming. We care deeply for the citizens of this parish and are trying quickly to restore their livelihoods."
Large trees are uprooted or splintered, the dead leaves already brown and brittle. Carports in neighborhoods collapsed under their own weight, and glass windows on several buildings are smashed and scattered.
Mosquitoes are hatching. There is reportedly an abnormally large number of snakes around, too.
"I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet," Lindig said, noting the parish's southern tip remains under water. "Where are the people going to go when they get back? Sure, they can return to their homes, but they have no jobs. Their lives are changed forever."
Local officials hope to drain the area by breaking levees to empty water and quickly building them back up before the tide rises. They will use a floating crane for the job.
An aerial view of the parish looks as if the Gulf of Mexico has swallowed the southern tip of land, said Capt. John Marie, deputy chief of operations for the sheriff's office.
The pre-storm evacuation is generally being praised here. Pipeline workers fled in the days before the storm, and officials took to local radio airways urging residents to leave.
Doing what's needed
For the next few days, guardsmen are planning to clear away brush and help officials survey accessible buildings. Power and water need to be restored to much of the parish, and the deployed guardsmen include a few electricians and plumbers.
"We're going to have to do what the guard does best— stand them back up" said Lt. Col. Eric Judkins, commander of the deployed group here, named Task Force New Mexico. "It's not going to be a comfortable experience, but it's what these people need."
Alongside the 150th Security Forces Squadron are another 300 soldiers from the Las Cruces-based 2nd Battalion of the 217th Infantry Brigade. Several of the soldiers have recently returned with the National Guard from the Middle East.