Trying to save a city

By Jessica Portner

Mercury News


Tristan Grell, a rookie rescueman in the California Air National Guard, had a memorable first assignment last week: slogging through putrid New Orleans water in a five-ton truck to save elderly residents stranded on balconies or in water-logged homes.

And Grell's unit, the 131st Rescue Squadron, had a record-breaking week. Since its founding in 1975, the 129th Rescue Wing, which oversees the squadron, has rescued 315 stranded people. In New Orleans, the 131st squadron alone saved 212 people -- in two days.

Among the people scooped up by Grell were a diabetic grandmother and residents whose food and water stocks were running thin. Around every corner, the dead bobbed in the filthy water a week after Hurricane Katrina pounded the city.

``It was awful. In random spots, they'd be floating,'' said the Mountain View man, one of a dozen members of the 131st Rescue Squadron who flew back to Moffett Field Wednesday night. Still, he added, ``I'm just happy to be able to help somebody.''

Members of the 131st Rescue Squadron were among 40,000 National Guard troops from about 40 states detailed to the Gulf Coast to respond to one of the nation's worst natural disasters. The ``para-rescuers'' -- some civilian, some career military -- have spent years plucking swimmers or stranded boaters from thrashing waves. Their motto is: ``That Others May Live.''

``I thought my first mission would be saving one person off a boat,'' said Mickey Chan, 26, another rookie from San Francisco who finished his training in June. ``But this was about saving a city.''

Even the squadron's most experienced rescuer said this mission was like no other.

Don Allie, the team's leader, has been in combat search-and-rescue missions and medical evacuations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last week, Allie and his crew cruised from street to street without rest, coaxing ill and traumatized New Orleanians to abandon their balconies so they could be evacuated to a freeway overpass and later flown to safety.

The 131st squadron was authorized to use persuasion only, not force. One day, the group spent two hours trying to extricate 20 residents from a complex who were intent on staying put. Most eventually complied.

Though the city was a floating morgue, the rescue workers couldn't recover the dead because they were charged with saving the living. They had to leave that gruesome task to other emergency crews.

``This operation was huge,'' said Allie, who works and lives at Moffett Field. ``This was an apocalyptic event.''

The California crew was joined by state guardsmen from Kentucky, Texas and New York.

Allie said the job was made more difficult because of the mixed messages residents were getting from various agencies and the media. Some were being given food and water by aid agencies or neighbors, which led residents to believe it was safe to stay in their homes. Others had heard orders to vacate and were waiting for help.

The guardsmen didn't just rescue humans. Grell said they saved two dogs, a spaniel and a Labrador, that were stuck on a railing. ``Everyone has a soft spot for a puppy,'' Grell said.

Now that they are back in the Bay Area, team members are focusing on their own health.

The water-rescue experts were moving through water laden with household chemicals and sewage -- and without wetsuits that could hamper their mobility. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared this week that the water quality in New Orleans is several times more toxic than recommended levels.

``That whole place is like a petri dish,'' said Jimmy Petrolia, a full-time fireman who works from Las Vegas and is part of the Moffett Field unit. ``It smells like death.''

Allie said all the men, some of whom have developed rashes and respiratory problems, were hosed down by a hazardous materials team and are on a standard, post-mission regimen of antibiotics.

Grell and Chan both said the first thing they did when they got home was shower, sleep and eat something fresh. While in New Orleans, all they ate were military rations -- vegetarian barbecue patties, cheese and brownies.

State guard officials have not said when or whether this crew will be returning to New Orleans. But at the 131st's headquarters at Moffett Field on Thursday, Chan said he is already hoping to return.

``We accomplished a lot, but we could have done more,'' Chan said. ``I want to go back and get more people out.''