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I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

houstonchronicle.com

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Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#101

Post by vkou »

cat199 wrote: post #84
forkandwait wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the national guard aren't civilians or local, plus they get sent to fight in wars and shit. I am thinking more like a level below volunteer firepeople, with some regional and national coordination.

state guard. many states have it. Or form your own. visit your local shooting range for details.

My (outsider's) impression of most private militias is that they often structure around people who are itching to gun down some bad dudes, as opposed to provide humanitarian aid.

Like, ah, these fine gentlemen. [1]

[1] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/new9wd/the-birth-of-canad...

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#102

Post by secfirstmd »

nsebban wrote: post #57
briandear wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you scale that in a hurry? Do you have people doing this full time sitting idle waiting for a full scale disaster to hit? You already have the National Guard, but how can that force cover an area the size of the Netherlands — with a thousand boats ready to go? Texas had literally thousands of rescues. It’s ridiculous to suggest that any government force can deploy a force large enough to handle that within a d…

Hundreds of people opened their home in October 2015 after the huge rainstorm and floods in Cannes and Biot. Several supermarket (Carrefour and Intermarché for sure) delivered tons of food to the people there. Hundreds of people opened their home on July 14 2016 after the terrorist attack in Nice. Same in Paris before that. And same in Barcelona this summer. While it's true that American people jump into action, it's…

Germany opened its home to a million Syrian refugees in 2015/16............

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#103

Post by doodlebugging »

giardini wrote: post #79
hsod wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why were people lying about rescuers being in danger? Just trolls? I think we would have heard by now if there were pirates out there stealing rescue boats at gunpoint.

Not necessarily lying or trolling. Persons with a low anxiety threshold may post (and re-post) a single report or rumour, not realizing that they thereby create problems rather than assist.

This is probably a part of the answer. Many reports we heard sounded almost like recordings they were so similar. I found myself anticipating some of this dialog just based on previous dialogs. As I noted earlier, when someone tried to inform listeners that the dam failure probably applied to a different geographic area than the one for their channel it was quickly followed by a person repeating that the dam was about to fail, the Coast Guard was right there with him, etc. I decided that someone either had a narrative they wanted to follow or that they didn't realize they were not on the Houston channel any more.

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#104

Post by Waterluvian »

forkandwait wrote: post #64

I wish there were a disaster militia, with something like quarterly weekend trainings, with some FEMA sponsorship but still independent. It would be fun to practice ham communications and boat rescue anyway, and a little bit of practice could have a huge impact when the shit is truly hitting the fan.

Even just how to behave as a passenger of an emergency is valuable training.

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#105

Post by jtnegrotto »

doodlebugging wrote: post #95
jtnegrotto wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know of a few people who worked on maps in Houston (and helped some out in minor ways), but AFAIK there wasn't one single map that "won out". I was the one who created the Cajun Navy's crowd-sourced rescue mapping strategy, though, while helping out with the 2016 Louisiana floods, so I can give a little insight. At first, I just saw that people were posting requests for rescue in various Facebook groups and becomin…

Thanks for your efforts. We ended up using a different map that was very similar to the one you linked.

For Houston or Louisiana? The map I linked (and the bulk of my comment) are about what we did in Louisiana last year. I'm not completely in the know regarding Houston.

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#106

Post by lsiebert »

I notice people talking about untrained ad hoc groups VS professional and paraprofessionals.

There is no competition here, there is only lives saved. Untrained ad hoc groups had smaller boats, had more boats, and were able to help people who would have died otherwise.

I do think it is worthwhile to talk about problems that occurred. Get a list of them, prioritize them, find solutions. Though they have to be solutions that don't make things worse, preferably ones that get tested during a mock disaster, not during the next real one.

One thing to note: Most people involved in these efforts were good intentioned and did their best. There are a few reports of bad actors, but they were rare.

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#107

Post by [deleted] »

lobotryas wrote: post #72
forkandwait wrote: post #64

I wish there were a disaster militia, with something like quarterly weekend trainings, with some FEMA sponsorship but still independent. It would be fun to practice ham communications and boat rescue anyway, and a little bit of practice could have a huge impact when the shit is truly hitting the fan.

You should look into whether Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is available for your area: https://www.ready.gov/community-emergency-response-team If it's not, you may want to work on partnering with local emergency services to get one going.

[deleted]

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#108

Post by Casseres »

forkandwait wrote: post #75
lobotryas wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should look into whether Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is available for your area: https://www.ready.gov/community-emergency-response-team If it's not, you may want to work on partnering with local emergency services to get one going.

Isn't that a one off class? Cool, but an organization needs maintenance to be activated well in a pinch.

I was a member of Galveston County CERT and still receive their emails. There are plenty of opportunities to continue training and help participate in drills. During Hurricane Harvey (and even afterward), I received quite a few emails asking for volunteers for different things. I highly recommend taking the training and volunteering with CERT.

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#109

Post by doodlebugging »

jtnegrotto wrote: post #105
doodlebugging wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your efforts. We ended up using a different map that was very similar to the one you linked.

For Houston or Louisiana? The map I linked (and the bulk of my comment) are about what we did in Louisiana last year. I'm not completely in the know regarding Houston.

Sorry. The map you linked is very similar to the map we used for the Houston/Galveston/Orange areas. The people needing rescue were tagged as in your map and useful info about each location was available, in the map we used, on the left sidebar.

Re: I downloaded an app and was part of the Cajun Navy

#110

Post by gonzo »

forkandwait wrote: post #64

I wish there were a disaster militia, with something like quarterly weekend trainings, with some FEMA sponsorship but still independent. It would be fun to practice ham communications and boat rescue anyway, and a little bit of practice could have a huge impact when the shit is truly hitting the fan.

When I lived in Vegas, the Clark county sherif had a "Jeep Posse". We did S&R. Completely volunteer.

Then LVMPD decided it was their responsibility.

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