Hurricane Helene: What to expect from rescue efforts
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After Helene slammed Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, crews from around the country have stationed or are on standby to help with rescue efforts. That includes some from Texas, on the Texas A&M Task Force 1.
Jeff Conrad, the director of Field Operations for Texas Search and Rescue (TxSAR), a volunteer nonprofit that helps with search and rescue missions, missing persons and things like swift water rescue and disaster response trainings, talked to KXAN about what those efforts likely look like right now.
"Once the storm has passed, then the search begins," Conrad said. "Essentially, they will be responding to 911 calls that come in, and most likely, they will also be searching neighborhoods that were inundated and going house by house to make sure that everybody's okay, that they don't need anything, and evacuating people that need to be taken out."
Aside from the tremendous amount of water and debris rescuers will have to navigate, Conrad said there are also hidden dangers that make those efforts more challenging.
"You've got everything from hazmat that's in the water, from fuel and chemicals that were in people's garages and everything," Conrad said. "There's also a lot of danger from manhole covers that have become loose, and drainage ditches -- water flowing that you may not be able to see from the surface -- and if you fall into one of those manhole areas that can be extremely dangerous for the rescuers."
That's also a danger for people trying to leave their place of shelter to seek help. Conrad said the best thing people can do now is stay in place, if they can, and wait for rescuers to reach them.
"We'll find a lot of times that people may make it to a rooftop and try and flag down helicopters," he said. "We'll see them in windows of buildings, and often they may be just sitting out front waiting for somebody to come by, if they are able to get to an area where they can be seen from the roadways."
Conrad also noted rescuers will run into some of the same challenges the public does, like lack of fuel and food.
"When the rescues start running into days, oftentimes they start getting low on fuel, and have to manage logistically how to get fuel and supplies into the rescuers. That can be a challenge," Conrad said.