Bandied a lot lately is the cynical statement “No one is coming to save you!” Those words are largely directed at the federal government and the current administration’s admission that the FEMA bank is broke, allegedly due to pouring billions into the illegal immigration debacle, betraying stranded help to citizens who lost everything when Hurricane Helene bullied the landscape after accelerating through the seascape.
No one is coming to save you! might be true if referring to the White House administration and its beyond dubious allocations of spending taxpayer dollars everywhere but home, where those funds were hard-earned and undeniably needed.
According to Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, “Numerous whistleblowers came forward to my office this week to sound the alarm on FEMA’s severe mismanagement issues, which have left first responders on the ground to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts without deployment orders.
“For context, FEMA redirected $1.4 BILLION of taxpayer funds over the past two years to illegal aliens due to Border Czar Kamala Harris’ open-border policies.
“DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas now says the agency doesn’t ‘have enough funds’ for hurricane season.
“Today, I sent a letter to Mayorkas demanding answers on whether FEMA misappropriated taxpayer funds in the Disaster Relief Fund to be used on non-disaster-relief programs for illegal aliens.”
(Photo courtesy of New York Task Force 1.)
While he is waiting for an answer, LEOs, firefighters, paramedics, and canines are undeterred and have gone into hurricane-decimated regions. Gratefully, many of these brave, highly trained, super-skilled first responders from various locales were out there before the hurricane hit and continue to respond to aftermath circumstances.
For example, an engine company from Hillsborough County Fires Rescue was summoned by the managers of a food bank for which I was volunteering. Directly across the street, a plot of grassy knoll saturated by Helene’s push of Gulf of Mexico waters inland was somehow smoking. Yes, smoking. Not sure why. But the point is that, within scant minutes, a crew of five first responders were on scene.
Elsewhere, that same local Engine Company of first responders have colleagues primarily operating as search-and-rescue teams in battered locales in Florida and other affected states such as North Carolina and Tennessee.
Given the buckled terrain and flattened towns and cities erased from the geographical landscape, search-and-rescue operatives do their darndest to locate and salvage lives that were starkly cut off from society by nature’s fury, making it dangerous for anyone to navigate, first responders included. Nevertheless, rescuers forged on. Some casualties are reported by public safety agencies.
(Photo courtesy of New York Task Force 1.)
A New Hampshire-based conservation officer assigned to the state’s search-and-rescue contingent deployed days ago. While rescue efforts raced against the clock, Officer Levi Frye perished while trying to save trapped people cut off from civilization and whose existence was waning.
“The New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Association is deeply saddened over the loss of Conservation Officer Levi Frye of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
(Photo courtesy of the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Association.)
“CO Frye was a shining example of New Hampshire’s finest. He left a lasting impact in not just Coos County where he patrolled but the entire State of New Hampshire. It was clear that he had a passion for protecting our state’s fish, wildlife, and natural resources, along with serving the public. CO Frye was a member of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Advanced Search and Rescue Team, Honor Guard, and the Conservation Officer’s Relief Association.”
In typical fashion (despite the dwindled roles of law enforcement officers in America), police organizations are assembling and dispatching second waves of search-and-rescue groups to areas devastated by Helene.
The Apex, North Carolina police force allocated a crew of cops to go in and help with recovery efforts, providing some respite to other first responders who have been there since the beginning of the nightmarish experience, many of whom are specially equipped to search-and-rescue units born to do a perilous job at great risk to themselves—as usual.
(Photo courtesy of the Apex Police Department.)
Apex PD “deployed 6 officers to partner in a multi-agency Task Force from Wake County [Raleigh] that will assist with the recovery efforts in Asheville, NC. We are proud that numerous officers from our department volunteered without hesitation to relieve officers from the Asheville Police Department and other partners that have been working countless hours since Hurricane Helene.”
With their state bashed by Hurricane Helene, after assessing that enough public safety assets were effectively handling the Sunshine State predicaments created by Helene, agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement traveled to North Carolina, helping out with law enforcement duties.
(Photo courtesy of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.)
What you see in the photograph is the FDLE Command Center next to a long trail of what appears to be trailers hosting showers.
They look exactly like the ones posted here in west coast areas of Florida, many provided by state agencies and private help organizations.
Per an FDLE spokesperson, “FDLE agents are honored to serve in Governor Ron DeSantis’s Operation Blue Ridge to assist North Carolina in their recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene.”
“Florida showed up and showed out,” said North Carolina’s Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller.
That’s the brand of lifeblood the anti-police barkers protest. Shame on them!
During dire circumstances posed by Hurricane Helene, mutual aid agreements are implemented, whereby out-of-state police officials are temporarily sworn in, granting authority to enforce North Carolina laws and maintain order in a territory rocked and ruined by a natural disaster. This type of major event typically spawns unsavory people who loot, scam, and prey upon a vulnerable population derailed by a surreal situation.
On October 3, 2024, “34 Florida law enforcement officers were sworn in by Buncombe County North Carolina Sheriff Quentin Miller as we assist with lifesaving missions in Governor Ron Desantis’s Operation Blue Ridge,” an FDLE bulletin explained.
(Photo courtesy of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.)
The earliest arrivals of first responders among search-and-rescue organizations from all points will receive relief from fresh batches of public safety professionals who have a certifiable knack for navigating treacherous terrain such as that encountered in North Carolina and Tennessee.
The first responders from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office returned home recently after being relieved by another wave of search-and-rescue assets:
“These brave crews have been working tirelessly since before the storm, camping in areas with limited resources. They safeguarded Jacksonville’s streets and swiftly deployed overnight once the storm passed.”
Similarly, first responders from Miami, Florida, concluded a search-and-rescue stint and returned home to their stations and loved ones after being relieved by reinforcements:
“Operating as a State of Florida asset as a Type I US&R task force, the 84-member highly skilled team, composed of firefighter/paramedics, physicians, engineers, and search canines, was deployed for search and rescue missions in Dixie and Taylor counties. Their efforts focused on remote and rural communities, such as Horseshoe Beach and Suwannee, where they cleared debris, assessed damage, and checked on the well-being of affected residents.”
Unfortunately, any Florida first responders will not achieve much of a recuperation period since another predicted catastrophe is headed straight toward the Gulf Coast of Florida. As of this writing, Tampa Bay is Hurricane Milton’s target, expected to be a Cat 2 as it nears the coastline, the cone of which is reportedly going to blanket the entire Sunshine State with anything but the bright stuff.
I encourage you to view the boots-on-the-ground material provided by Chance Craven, who a firefighter friend directed me to. His photo imagery emphasizes our topic today.
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