Associated Press
Nothing prepared a New Mexico task force leader for what he saw in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city.
"A kind of madness took over that you can't really explain,'' said Tom Romero, leader of the state Department of Public Safety Urban Search and Rescue Team. "People in houses were shooting at rescuers, would-be rescuers. I never thought I'd see those things in America. It's shocking.''
He has trained to crawl through collapsed buildings to search for victims of terrorists attacks, but he said the scale of the damage in New Orleans was overwhelming.
The 71-member task force was called to duty in New Orleans on Aug. 29. On Friday, members were greeted with cheers from family and friends as they returned to Albuquerque.
Victoria Aragon pressed her daughter against her chest and watched the search team's buses pull in.
"I've been very worried,'' she said of her brother, Edward Torres III. "It's very good to see him back, back safe. But I'm glad he was out there to be able to help everybody in need. He was out there doing a good thing.''
The New Mexico team is one of 28 around the country supported by the federal government, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
This marked the second time the team has been called out, said department spokesman Peter Olson. The team's first assignment was to the Pentagon after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team also is returning to Albuquerque.
Cmdr. Steve Trammel said the 32-member team is expected to arrive Saturday evening.
The team was one of two inside the Louisiana Superdome during two of the hurricane's early days. Most recently, team members were working in a makeshift hospital at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Trammel said the team was done seeing patients a couple of days ago.
But team member's work there might not be done.
"We're going to go home with the idea that we probably will get a phone call to come back,'' Trammel said. "The mission is going to be a long one.''
Meanwhile, the New Mexico National Guard is continuing to clear the streets of and rebuild Plaquemine's Parish. It also is helping to restore levees along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast.
About 412 members of the guard have been deployed to the region. The first wave of airmen and soldiers arrived at the Naval Air Station in Bellchase, La., on Sept. 2.
Lt. Col. Eric Judkins say the parish is supported almost exclusively by the New Mexico guard.
There's no timeline on when the guard will return, but Judkins said rotating the soldiers and airmen in increments of 100 is a possibility.
Judkins said the worst part about the southern part of the parish is seeing the devastation the hurricane caused.
"Houses stacked on top of each other, cars and trees, dead animals everywhere, there's oil spills. Words can't describe it,'' he said.
But he says the soldiers have been remarkable and that they're proud and happy to be helping.
"At some point, we'll got home to our air-conditioned houses, to our family who is safe and secure,'' Judkins said. "These people are taking the first half step of a marathon they still have to complete.''
"We're going to stay here hopefully as long as it takes to help them (residents) stand back up,'' he said.
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