Clarke County Democrat

English responds with state task force to Jacksonville to deal with Dorian threat




English

English

A Grove Hill man has deployed with Alabama Task Force One to Jacksonville, Fla. to help with search and rescue operations if needed in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

Don English is one of 80 in the team that includes firefighters from Mobile Fire-Rescue, Saraland Fire Department and the Porch Creek Fire Department. Medical personnel from University Hospital and Mobile Infirmary are also a part of the team.

English, a longtime firefighter who has worked in industry safety, is the safety manager for the team.

“Safety is paramount,” English said, saying briefings are held and team members are told what to expect before they go out. “We want to work safely and come back to our base safely,” English said.

“Thanks to FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] we turn over every pebble, every possible scenario before we go out.”

Alabama Task Force One is based out of Mobile Fire-Rescue and is attached to the state as a state resource, English explained. This unit dates to 2001.

Mobile Fire-Rescue vehicles backed in at the South Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. Below, a meeting Tuesday morning of Alabama Task Force members in the arena’s concourse. Note the tent set up in the background. Photos by Don English

Mobile Fire-Rescue vehicles backed in at the South Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. Below, a meeting Tuesday morning of Alabama Task Force members in the arena’s concourse. Note the tent set up in the background. Photos by Don English

Tuesday the team was based at Jacksonville’s South Arena, a large horse arena. The team set up their large tents in the concourse around the arena. The tents are air-conditioned, powered by generators.

English said a lot of horse owners had moved their horses to the arena for safety from the storm and were out riding and exercising their horses Tuesday morning. He said it was a busy place.

English said the federal government has reorganized search and rescue operations for hurricanes after Hurricane Katrina and the delay it took to get into New Orleans. In the past, teams would deploy toward a storm area but stop 100 to 150 miles out and wait for the storm to pass before moving in. Often getting in ate up valuable time.

Now, teams are deployed farther into a storm area and based at a secure site to ride out the storm and be ready to move as soon as it passes. That makes for a quicker response time, time that could be important.

 

 

The Alabama team is prepared to search by land or water. Boats and motors were deployed with the group.

An engineer with the U.S. Corps of Engineers is a part of the team. He evaluates buildings that must be checked to give advice on how to stabilize if needed before rescuers enter.

“We go prepared to be self-sustaining for three days but in actuality it is more like five,” English said. The group has its own satellite system to tie in with FEMA, the National Weather Service and law enforcement to stay abreast of the storm and happenings.

English said the state task force is experienced. It takes two years to get credentials to be a part of the team.

This isn’t English’s first storm. He worked Hurricane Katrina, the storms that hit Texas and in 2011 responded to the tornadoes that hit several Alabama cities including Tuscaloosa.

Wednesday morning, Hurricane Dorian was just off Grand Bahama Island. The Category 5 storm, with winds of over 150 mph, had slowed to a Category 2 with winds reduced to 105 mph. The movement speed had increased from a sluggish 1 mph to about 8 mph.

The storm had made its expected turn to the north and was just off the Florida coast.

The storm could make landfall later in the week in one of the Carolinas.

However, the storm is so close to shore that a little wobble to the west could bring it ashore in Florida.

Even if the eye stays offshore, high waves pounding in on the storm’s north side is expected to cause flooding.

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