California rescue workers who helped in Gulf Coast hurricane relief have returned after three weeks on the road, including a close encounter with Hurricane Ike.
Sacramento City Fire Capt. Greg Powell said this week that he slept inside the confines of the former Houston Astrodome as Ike battered holes in the roof and ripped giant air-conditioners out. Torrential rain poured in through the roof, dampening 1,000 rescuers riding out the storm.
"I've been in hurricanes before, just not that close," said Powell, who led one of eight California swift-boat rescue teams into the storm-struck gulf region.
Another team from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District was among the eight.
Unlike Hurricane Katrina, residents were evacuated sooner and rescuers were staged closer to the storm center, Powell said.
The Sacramento City Fire team of 14 was in Houston on Sept. 13 when Ike blew onshore. Powell's team waited until winds dropped to a safe 40 mph to venture out.
Powell's team was first to arrive on Galveston Island, slowed by debris that made the 40-mile drive a two-hour ordeal. The last few miles required a bulldozer attachment to plow through piled debris.
Galveston Island emerged quickly from floodwaters, unlike the floods that inundated New Orleans during Katrina, Powell said.
They didn't need their boats this time.
The swift-water rescue teams did door-to-door checks through the sludge, including a hospital where patients and staff had survived after the first floor flooded.
In three days, the team reached 1,500 homes.
"The ones who did stay were so thankful to be alive," Powell said.
Many who refused to evacuate said they were grateful to survive the storm's rage, Powell said.
"A lot of them said they would never do that again. They'd listen when they were told to leave," he said.
Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.
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