[PAO] FW: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday

Fri Oct 9 16:06:22 CDT 2015

Thanks for sending this, Karen.  Please feel free to send any further 
updates, as appropriate.

-Michael-

On 10/9/2015 8:38 AM, Karen Copenhaver wrote:
> ALCON:
>
> I have just completed a phone call with SC Wing Commander, Col Francis 
> Smith, and he as given permission to share this overview of the 
> situation in South Carolina, their efforts and the support they are 
> receiving throughout this disaster relief effort.  Please feel free to 
> share with your fellow units and members.
>
> Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP
> Deputy Director, Public Affairs
> Middle East Region
> 276-783-8022
>
> Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary
>
> http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC [mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org]
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 08, 2015 7:28 PM
> *To:* scwg at scwgcap.org; scwg-cc at scwgcap.org
> *Cc:* Maj Gen Joe Vazquez; Brig Gen Larry Myrick; John Knowles; Col 
> Dennis Barron; Jay Langley; Col David Crawford; Richard Greenwood; Lt 
> Col Andrea Van Buren; Boykin Roseborough; Larry Ragland; icp; 
> mark.obrien.3 at us.af.mil; losc at bellsouth.net; opscenter at capnhq.gov
> *Subject:* [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday
>
> Good evening, everyone.
>
> Another good day working for the good citizens of the Palmetto State. 
>  At the moment, we have flown approximately 20 sorties and 46 hours.
>
> The taskings for today were more focused.  Over the last two days, we 
> have flown a LOT of get out there and see whats happening type 
> sorties.  With all of the grids we flew, we had a lot more activity in 
> the sky yesterday.
>
> Were still prominent today, but flew about half of the hours because 
> the areas of concern are now more specifically identified.  The 
> Georgetown area is of major concern starting right away, as 
> floodwaters are cresting further and further downstream.
>
> *Be clear on this:*  we are not responding to a disaster that has 
> occurred.  We are responding to a disaster that is still in progress. 
>  Major flooding is still occurring and will continue to occur through 
> the weekend.  This is even more dangerous because people are seeing 
> the blue skies and assuming that all is okay.  This is resulting in 
> many, many stranded people.
>
> Today CAP performed Impact Assessment and SAR flights over the most 
> affected rivers and in flood prone areas.  Unfortunately, most of the 
> flood prone areas are very large in the flatlands, and water is 
> literally running over the ground from river to river in some areas. 
>  We have no real way of knowing if we saved lives today, but Im 
> betting we did.  CAP aircraft identified a number of flooded and 
> isolated areas, noted where there were vehicles in distress, located 
> two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades, 
> and provided hundreds more in the way of IA photos.  We also flew 
> roads in and out of Georgetown helping SCEMD folks plan for 
> evacuations and areas that are likely to flood and thus close roads 
> needed for those evacuations.  We are again getting real time 
> information to the EOC from the air and help is getting to the right 
> places.
>
> We had three new (in the original wrapper) camera systems arrive from 
> the NOC today.  These are small Garmin cameras that attach to a wing 
> strut and take straight down photos on a particular flight 
> profile.  Well be taking a look at the first sortie using those 
> cameras tonight - we have high hopes but we are the test case for 
> sure.  If we had good success, well be flying all three of them tomorrow.
>
> Today, we flew aircraft from SC, NC, VA, and MD wings, with thanks to 
> the two aircrews from Georgia that were ready to come at a moments 
> notice.  This is allowing our aircrews and mission base staff to be 
> rotated out a bit for some badly needed and well earned rest.  We 
> appreciate you, and hopefully well see you in the next few days.  Our 
> mission base staff was augmented by a GA-8 and several van-loads of 
> cadets from Lowcountry, Columbia, and Lexington, as well as senior 
> staff from North Carolina and Maryland.  We set up a debriefing 
> section in the main meeting room at SC Wing HQ, and have support 
> personnel in that section to help get WMIRS populated with complete 
> and meaningful debriefing information.  That information is also being 
> cross-decked quickly to the EOC.  We are taking advantage of our fiber 
> connection to the internet here to upload photos to FEMA at rates 
> about 30 times faster than typical high-speed internet.
>
> We are very fortunate to have had donations or steep discounts from 
> vendors who have brought us food, water, and soft drinks.  We are well 
> cared for here!
>
> Tomorrow we will be flying affected and likely affected roads, 
> possibly with the new camera system, both early and late in the day. 
>  We also expect to receive a long list of photo targets (spot targets) 
> along 4 or 5 of the affected rivers.  We wont receive those until in 
> the morning, but that list will be completed in the morning and 
> repeated in the afternoon for comparison purposes.  We wont be 
> launching the majority of our aircraft (or dont expect to) until 
> after 9am, which is a welcome short break.
>
> Again, so very blessed to have had great assistance from everyone 
> involved.  Thank you all for your continued efforts. *You are making a 
> difference.*
>
> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP*
>
> South Carolina Wing Commander
>
> (W)
>
> 803.490.0180
>
> (C)
>
> 803.261.4981
>
> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary
>
> GoCivilAirPatrol.com <http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com>
>
> scwgcap.org <http://scwgcap.org>
>
>
> <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Civil-Air-Patrol/107647995924164><https://www.flickr.com/photos/civilairpatrol/sets/>
>
>> On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC 
>> <fhsmith at scwgcap.org <mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org>> wrote:
>>
>> SC Wing and friends:
>>
>> Today the Civil Air Patrol really got spun up as part of the SAR and 
>> disaster relief effort in South Carolina.  The weather was great in 
>> some areas, good enough in others, and unfortunately almost good 
>> enough in a few places.  Our priority has been on flying and 
>> identifying locations that need or will shortly need SAR assets and 
>> getting rescue to those locations.  Right behind that, and sometimes 
>> simultaneously with that, we provided impact assessment reports and 
>> photography.  Even now, there are CAP members that are compiling 
>> reports and continuing to plan for the next operational periods. 
>>  Well kick off again early in the morning.
>>
>> In the roundest of numbers, we had approximately 100 personnel 
>> involved, flew 14 aircraft, and logged about 85 hours in the air 
>> today.  We expect similar numbers tomorrow.  We have received all of 
>> our taskings and have planned and sorted those amongst several 
>> aircrew.  Kudos to everyone involved in our operations from the 
>> mission base staff to the aircrews to the communications operators 
>> stationed all over the state.  We have had incredible work by Col 
>> Lindler and his helpers at our state EOC for the past 72 hours or so 
>> - truly an integral part of the response effort being put forth by 
>> all levels of government.  Outstanding work by the members of 
>> Columbia and Lexington Composite Squadrons who were called and showed 
>> up within minutes yesterday to prepare and staff our headquarters. 
>>  They were back today making sure everyone had what they needed, no 
>> one went hungry, or didnt have a place to stay.  Mrs. Kim Phillips, 
>> our Wing Administrator worked (approved) overtime - well above and 
>> beyond the call of duty.  There are so many names out there deserving 
>> of commendation and recognition - well definitely get to that.
>>
>> Included in all of this, we have two aircrews and aircraft each from 
>> North Carolina and Georgia flying with us right now.  A GA-8 airvan 
>> and an aircrew from Maryland arrived today, and are tasked first 
>> thing in the morning.  We have a Cessna 206 coming from North 
>> Carolina tomorrow.  Every bit of support we have asked for we have 
>> received without hesitation.  This is the concept of No Borders, No 
>> Boundaries in action, and it is working better than you could ever 
>> imagine for the citizens of the Palmetto State.  Thanks to everyone 
>> who is here, who will be here later, or who just volunteered to come. 
>>  Kudos to Lt Col Jay Langley, the MER/DO, who simply answered the 
>> phone, heard my request for him to just handle coordination of all 
>> out-of-wing assets, and said, I got it.
>>
>> Tomorrow we will start the day with more SAR runs in flooded and 
>> flood-prone areas.  Well then continue to work on Aerial Photography 
>> and Impact Assessment missions.  As was so prevalent today, we will 
>> also have a couple of aircraft and aircrews set aside to fly federal, 
>> state and local officials that need to see what theyre dealing with.
>>
>> Please be sure your minds are on safety as we continue forward.  Its 
>> very easy to get your mind so wrapped around what we need to do that 
>> we forget about the little things that can cause incidents and 
>> accidents.  We have mission requirements and we need to meet them, 
>> but remember to plan your response so that you can respond to those 
>> needs safely, effectively, and efficiently (in that order.)
>>
>> I am immensely proud be a leader and a servant in the Civil Air 
>> Patrol today.  You should be too.
>>
>> Semper Vigilans,
>>
>> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP*
>>
>> South Carolina Wing Commander
>>
>> (W)
>>
>> 803.490.0180
>>
>> (C)
>>
>> 803.261.4981
>>
>> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary
>>
>> GoCivilAirPatrol.com <http://gocivilairpatrol.com/>
>>
>> scwgcap.org <http://scwgcap.org/>
>>
>>
>> <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Civil-Air-Patrol/107647995924164>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Subscribed Email Address: Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov
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