David Schechter

They still have Civil Air Patrols why not Civil Defense units. Maybe they can assist the local police forces in the event of civil unrest or natural disaster much like a volunteer fire department.

SFC Jim Ruether - And we can better take care of ourselves rather than sitting on roofs waiting for the government to save us.

You have that exactly right! I was disgusted that people were allowing firemen and women to carry them from their doorstep to a waiting boat in knee deep or less water????? What the heck ? I would tell those people to roll up their jammies and walk out like a man or woman. A little water never hurt anyone. Where are all the Ranger Bass Boats, john boats, canoes, can't these people provide their own means of transportation and maybe help in the effort with their boats????????????

I just sent this out to our folks - it speaks to the comments here. FYI: Kim Barreda, our disability program director in Whitefish, MT,  is organizing a Team Patriot truckload of medical supplies for the displaced disabled in Houston through our friends and supporters in Denver.  We have tried in the past to augment existing programs through the top folks at FEMA, but they exist in name only.  We have logistics in place in Denver and Rockport and are coordinating assembly using a veteran rap group to create a jingle to go on our PSA.  Once we confirm Denver we will do the same here in Charlotte.  

Kim saw disabled people lying in the bottom of a rescue boat waiting for something to be able to use to help them while other boats were going back out and returning with more rescuees.   No wheelchairs, catheters, syringes, waste bags, ability to clean themselves, some shelters not accepting pets, and people afraid to leave what shelter they do have because once they are put in the system they may not be able to get out again.  Typically when our disabled experience natural disasters no one specifically accounts for them unless they show up at a shelter, which may be impossible if their wheelchairs are broken, floated away, unable to get them out of a window, tires flat, rims bent, etc, etc.  We were on our way to Joplin a few years ago and told to turn around because the disabled were not a problem.  Of course they were not = with all the debris on the road their wheelchairs were useless.  And out of sight, out of mind.  South Carolina we were on the FEMA conference call every afternoon and were told the same thing.  This time we are doing it on our own because we know the need is enormous and others are simply not equipped to do anything regardless of what might otherwise be implied or paid for.

We have a 14 foot ADA rescue RV trailer in Whitefish - we have been hampered over the years, including by the fraud of our now Governor, to build full length ADA compliant shower and clean hygiene trailers, ADA compliant food service trailers and ADA compliant emergency shelter trailers that were being designed by our disabled and built by our veterans, and located around the country to be used in civil emergencies.  Services desperately needed but not provided by anyone.  Oddly enough there is no shortage of people we can put to work helping others on a full-time basis, including and especially our disabled, from design and fabrication to staffing.

Thank you all for our support.  We continue to tirelessly work behind the scenes to fill needs that are not met elsewhere.  God bless us all, and especially those in Houston area.