Letters from New Jersey
by Bob Button
JS: My old friend Bob Button, of Jersey City, NJ, is a retired journalist and former public affairs officer for such outfits as NASA, TRW and Grumman. Bob keeps in frequent touch by email; some of his musings about days he and I shared are so interesting that I thought they ought to be read by others.
In this issue, something different. Bob volunteers to the Coast Guard as a pilot in their auxiliary. Because of that, he was asked to help out with FEMA efforts in Texas following the great hurricanes. He's just back..and this is his "Letter from New Jersey" about the experience.
Back From The Combat Zone
Bob Button: Hi, Jim...
Well, I'm back after bein' deployed for just over half my 30-day FEMA stint. Believe it or not we ran out of people to help in Central and Eastern Texas. The main Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) in Dallas was asking people to go home and stand by for deployment elsewhere. We all figgered we'd be goin' down to Beaumont-Port Arthur, but they're well staffed down there. We'll probably be recalled to go down and spell them soon 'cause that kinda duty can wear you out real fast. If recalled to go down to the 'combat zone' I'll probably opt out -- I got worn out just workin' out of Dallas, driving all over East Texas locating evacuees and leading them to Fema help. But I've been sleepin' (not often) between clean sheets, managin' to grab a Rob Roy before I passed out every night, eatin; one good meal a day when I could stay awake. Mostly we subsisted on energy bars.
We had volunteers on our teams from as far away as Alaska. Many had run off to help victims of last year's floods in Florida and elsewhere. Now they were back, giving their time and effort whenever anybody hollers for help. These are truck drivers, college professors, lawyers and what-have-you, all doing the same hard, physical work that being a FEMA volunteer demands. Needless to say, I was very impressed with those folks.
Fema divides you into teams for deployment, usually 8 people, each 2 buddied up to support each other -- my buddy was a lovely lady named Emily, a horse woman whose name, oddly enough, is Horsman. But Fema has no respect for those teams -- once in the field you might be split up and assigned to other teams. They urged us to remain "Fema Flexible." Life itself seemed to change every few hours.
We really got lucky when teams were deployed after four days of intensive training in Atlanta. The team just ahead of mine went to New Orleans, we got Dallas. The folks sent to Beaumont-Port Arthur are still in tents...maybe they have electrical power by now. Hey, after just two weeks of 12 to 18-hour days the Geezer started feelin' his age...and no naps allowed. But the work was terrific. We met people who'd lost everything; their homes, jobs, even loved ones, to the Katrina/Rita one-two punch. Most of them were in reasonably good spirits, very dignified while seeking whatever help they could get from agencies all over the place; Red Cross, Salvation Army, every little church in Texas, just plain people bringin' stuff to the DRCs. Just to be a part of all that energized us like crazy. I can't tell you how often I got big hugs from people who couldn't thank us enough for the little we did for them.
Anyhow, by Friday we were standin' around doin' little or nothin', figgerin' we'd surely be sent South. Instead, I think they plan to move the main Recovery Centers to new cities, maybe consolidate a few. People fleein' the Gulf Coast are showin' up as far north as Minnesota..a bunch in Arizona/California. Thousands upon thousands of them.
So if I get recalled, I'll go as a PIO -- work I'm trained for and hours I can handle. No way could I work those long hours again with no days off for any sustained period -- I'm too long in the tooth. In fairness, when things began to slow down we got Sundays off...but it's not the norm at FEMA.
 Bob (L) and fellow volunteer, Joe Barcelo, formerly of NJ, now from Florida, at the Disaster Center.
One statistic: In the past 30 days or so FEMA has processed more disaster victims than all victims combined during its entire history. Never have I seen so many volunteers bein' sent to so many places in such large numbers to help them...hell, just to find them was a big job. They are scattered all over the place!
Okay, so I'm back...big deal!
But hey, my dog thinks it's pretty cool that I'm home.
bb
Bob Button and his well-loved Beechcraft Musketeer:
For another story by Bob Button, Click Here.
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