National Guard Helps With Hurricane Ike Relief
Local Volunteers Also In Damaged Areas
Updated: 7:39 am CDT September 18, 2008
MADISON, Wis. -- Nearly 30 men and woman with the Wisconsin National Guard are in Texas helping bring food and water to Hurricane Ike's victims.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportThis is the group's second deployment to a hurricane ravaged zone. They also provided relief in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.Five helicopters from Madison and West Bend, and troops from all over the state deployed nine days ago.Captain Joseph Bradley said that a pro-active approach to Ike helped them better prepare and be able to reach out to more hurricane victims, WISC-TV reported.Bradley said Monday they got 17 evacuees off Galveston Island. They also took search and rescue passengers to the two hardest hit islands, so they could look for more survivors."It's hard to imagine someone riding a storm out knowing that there is no base of any kind at their house which was completely destroyed and its also very mindboggling half the survivors we did get off the island knowing what we saw there," said Bradley.Bradley also assisted in the efforts after Hurricane Katrina and said residents in Texas took Ike's mandatory evacuations much more serious than in Katrina so there weren't as many people that stayed back."Hurricane Katrina was kind of disorganized, just due to the fact we weren't prepared for it but this Hurricane Ike was much better prepared and orchestrated," said Bradley.The crew returns home to Wisconsin Friday. Other state units including Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Georgia are there, too.Local volunteers are also in areas hit by the hurricane and there's more help on the way from Wisconsin.Ryan Callan, of La Crosse, is one example. He signed up to be a red cross volunteer; a few weeks ago and he's already being called-on to provide meals, first-aid and emotional support to still evacuated victims of Ike, WISC-TV reported. "It's hard to sit back and watch it and say look at all this devastation it's so bad. But when you can go and actually do something about it through an organization like this, so efficient at plugging people in; why not? It's just such a great opportunity," said Callan.Callan is with a dozen others on the way to Texas.Volunteers also remain in Louisiana, providing relief to residents there after Hurricane Gustav.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportThis is the group's second deployment to a hurricane ravaged zone. They also provided relief in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.Five helicopters from Madison and West Bend, and troops from all over the state deployed nine days ago.Captain Joseph Bradley said that a pro-active approach to Ike helped them better prepare and be able to reach out to more hurricane victims, WISC-TV reported.Bradley said Monday they got 17 evacuees off Galveston Island. They also took search and rescue passengers to the two hardest hit islands, so they could look for more survivors."It's hard to imagine someone riding a storm out knowing that there is no base of any kind at their house which was completely destroyed and its also very mindboggling half the survivors we did get off the island knowing what we saw there," said Bradley.Bradley also assisted in the efforts after Hurricane Katrina and said residents in Texas took Ike's mandatory evacuations much more serious than in Katrina so there weren't as many people that stayed back."Hurricane Katrina was kind of disorganized, just due to the fact we weren't prepared for it but this Hurricane Ike was much better prepared and orchestrated," said Bradley.The crew returns home to Wisconsin Friday. Other state units including Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Georgia are there, too.Local volunteers are also in areas hit by the hurricane and there's more help on the way from Wisconsin.Ryan Callan, of La Crosse, is one example. He signed up to be a red cross volunteer; a few weeks ago and he's already being called-on to provide meals, first-aid and emotional support to still evacuated victims of Ike, WISC-TV reported. "It's hard to sit back and watch it and say look at all this devastation it's so bad. But when you can go and actually do something about it through an organization like this, so efficient at plugging people in; why not? It's just such a great opportunity," said Callan.Callan is with a dozen others on the way to Texas.Volunteers also remain in Louisiana, providing relief to residents there after Hurricane Gustav.Copyright 2008 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
