MISSISSIPPI RESCUE TESTS FWC OFFICERS’ INGENUITY

September 2, 2005
Contact: Henry Cabbage (850) 488-8843

Ingenuity was the challenge Thursday during a rescue by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers and members of the Mississippi Marine Patrol and the Florida National Guard.

According to FWC Officer Andy Maltais from the Jacksonville Field Office, the rescue involved a 500-pound storm victim, a National Guard “deuce-and-a-half” (a 2.5-ton truck) and lots of manpower.

“We began our water patrol with the Mississippi Marine Patrol at about 9 a.m., going through bayous and choked-off waterways. We saw a flare, but because of the conditions, we couldn’t reach the people who had fired it off,” Maltais said.

“There was a bulldozer clearing the road in the area and we managed to get up to the location by sighting smoke from a small fire. When we got there, we found two men on an in-shore shrimp boat back up in a small canal,” he said.

Officers found the boat in Bratts Bayou off the Jordan River near Henderson Point. This bayou is between Gulfport, Miss., and Bay St. Louis, La.

Other FWC officers on the scene were Officers Tony Wright, Craig Maguire, Brad Givens and Investigator Paul Graham, all from the Jacksonville Field Office.

“George Reed was in the boat. He weighed about 500 pounds and was not ambulatory. He was in bad shape. He was conscious and extremely glad to see us,” Maltais said. “The big problem we faced was how to get him to a medical facility.”

Emergency services had reached the area but were unable to transport Reed.

“Our helicopter flew over but also was unable to rescue the man,” Maltais said. “We ended up getting a deuce-and-a-half from the Florida National Guard back there. We constructed a litter from a door and some four-by-four lumber. We maneuvered Mr. Reed onto the litter and got him into the truck. He was then transported to a hospital.”

Maltais said a younger man who was with Reed (officers did not get his name), was the one who had fired off the flare.

“These two men had banded together, found this shrimp boat and rode out the storm,” Maltais said. “The younger man had lost his wife and son and wanted help trying to locate them. We walked through the destroyed subdivision, looking for other survivors. We didn’t find his family, but we did locate the owner of the shrimp boat who was amazed his boat and these two men had made it through the storm.”

According to Maltais, the devastation of the area is unbelievable.

“We were in a subdivision of about 100 houses. There was nothing left. Three-story houses have been reduced to sticks,” he said. “The storm surge here must have been tremendous. You can see where the bark was blasted off the trees from the surge. I can’t begin to describe the scene or the smell. There are carcasses of dead fish and other animals littering the area. There’s nothing left.”

Maltais told of another survival story.

“There was a group of four Vietnamese shrimpers who wanted to save their boat and decided to
ride out the storm in it. It got so bad that they ended up climbing a 90-foot pine tree and lashing themselves at about 60 feet. They managed to ride out the storm,” Maltais said. “I was amazed. I saw the rope burns on their bodies and then saw the tree ….It looked like an apple core. If the wind had been much more fierce, they wouldn’t have made it.”

Maltais said the shrimp boat made it through the storm also.

Living conditions for FWC’s 109 officers, and other personnel in the rescue operation have been described as “primitive.”

Maltais laughed, saying, “That’s putting it in a good light. We’re living out of our trucks. However, our morale is great. In fact, my squad has just volunteered to stay here for another week.”

The squad consists of Lt. Gary Klein, officers Harold Barry, Givens, Maltais, Wright, Maguire and Graham. Capt. John Burton, from the Crystal River Field Office, is leading the detail.

“I worked the detail in Pensacola after Hurricane Ivan last year. But this is even worse,” Maltais said. “I’m just glad to be here to be able to help out.”

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