The Cajun Navy goes to the Carolinas; citizen rescuers pull people out of the rising waters

Working all night with little sleep and a lot of Mountain Dew and adrenaline, Taylor Fontenot, the Texas captain, a group of volunteers known as Cajun Navy, headed for Hurricane Florence's anger . As the storm headed for the ground Thursday night until Friday morning, Fontenot and his group said they had helped save more than 150 people, including terrified parents, their sleeping toddlers and dozens of people trapped in the attics. houses.

"The man last night was crazy," Fontenot said from the waterfront town of New Bern, NS, where he was working alongside police and firefighters to save people from storm surges and floods.

Todd Terrell, chief of the US Navy in Cajun, said those who had ignored the evacuation requests had been trapped at home or had tried to leave too late. He said the rescuers used air mattresses to transport people safely because the gusts of the storm toppled lifeboats.

"Many people did not go out, tried to hunt and many were stuck. So, a lot of people are saving us from the top of their vehicles, "Terrell said. "It's a shame right now."

The Cajun Navy issued a widespread appeal for more boats on Friday, warning authorities that people stranded at home in the historic city in the interior of the country were "terrified".

As Hurricane Florence headed for the Carolinas to the west, an armada of kayaks, fishing boats, duck-hunting boats, hovercraft and canoes was moving north and East Texas and Louisiana. As rains and winds began to hit the coast, the entire volunteer flotilla was installed.

Bring it, they said. The Cajun Navy has arrived.

Just as they did last summer in Texas during Hurricane Harvey, a group of ground-based researchers and first responders settled on the way to Florence in hopes of offering their services to victims floods and injuries. Recognized for saving thousands of people and pets during Harvey's unprecedented rains, they plan to start all over again, a vigilance team trying to help the government's rescue efforts.

What they saw in New Bern is expected in other parts of North Carolina and South Carolina in the coming days, while Florence is moving along the coast and some areas have already been affected by heavy rains. .

Wearing wraparound sunglasses, camouflage pants and large mud boots, they flocked Thursday to Gaston, South Carolina, to applaud and honk. Some residents offered them gas cards and invited them to park their vans in their driveways or sleep at home.

The United Cajun Navy, as we know, saw the moment as being bittersweet.

"We are not here for a boat ride and a beer. We know this place is about to be hammered, "said Terrell, known as" Mr. Cajun Navy "and survivor of Hurricane Katrina. "We know we are here because your house will be destroyed or your dog will be dead. And we will seek your loved ones.

During Harvey, their rescues were sometimes chaotic and there was little or no coordination with federal and state authorities. Some closed communities refused to let them in. Others welcomed them as blue-collar superheroes with boats, since nobody seemed to show up.

Cajun Navy officers say they are working in Florence to better coordinate efforts with local authorities and the US Coast Guard, but the storm is going to cover such a vast territory that they know the authorities will not be able to handle everything.

"When people need to save, we will focus on that," Terrell said.

Blair Burgess, who runs a social media company and lives near Gaston, a city outside Columbia, contacted the Cajun Navy this week to invite them to come help. He said that he was a big fan.

"Maybe people think it's just a group of rednecks in jon boats, but in reality, it's a bunch of good old boys who are willing to travel across the country to help their neighbors" said Burgess. "When I asked them to come to Florence, they said," We will be in town in 24 hours. "And of course, they were."

A friend of the family lent 180 acres of land for the Cajun Navy to install a rest area.

"It's not that local firefighters and the police can not do it, but getting extra help means a lot," said Burgess. "You can never have too many hands. You never want to have 15 other boats to save 15 extra lives. "

For many volunteers, being part of rescue teams has become part of their identity and a way to cope with their own losses during catastrophic floods. Others have military experience and find cathartic volunteering.

Volunteers say that when they are on the ground, they help people who claim them, carrying terrified people with toddlers out of rooftops or pets through windows while foul water mounted.

Terrell lost his seafood business during Hurricane Katrina.

"We know exactly what panic and suffering are like," he said. "And it's hard to just look at home and do nothing."

Taylor Aucoin, a marine dispatcher from Louisiana Cajun to Baton Rouge, said the group had already saved hundreds of horses and donkeys and more than 100 German shepherds from Florence. Aucoin uses an app called Zello that allows her and her husband to make radio rescue requests to volunteer rescuers.

Their assistance effort during Hurricane Harvey became a symbol of self-reliance in Texas. During Harvey, there were so many people to be rescued that the emergency lines were blocked and people were showing desperate calls for help on social networks.

The Coast Guard warned Friday against the use of social media to send appeals for help and urged people to call 911 – "they could" – saying that It is more efficient to ask for help through the official channels. Various local governments have considered trying to regulate rescue groups and mandating training, but so far, the Cajun Navy has been largely allowed to do its work unhindered.

Jordy Bloodsworth, 26, of the Louisiana Cajun Navy, who drove 11 hours from his home in Baton Rouge, said the call was not important to him.

"I was not going to come, but my boss gave me a few days of paid vacation and said," Go do your thing, "said Bloodsworth, arriving at Gaston with his boat 18 foot custom featuring a gator tail. . Thursday night, his group moved to Lumberton, North Carolina, an area inland and prone to flooding and expected to experience heavy rains this week.

He brought plenty of packs of socks – "nothing worse than wet socks after a rescue" – ice chests, boxes of granola bars and bottled water. Bloodsworth was 12 when Hurricane Katrina leaked 14 feet of water into her family's home as the dikes broke down. The family has lost everything. He said that he had saved dozens of people during Harvey.

"I think if I could save one person, it's worth it," said Bloodsworth.

Fontenot, along with US Navy Cajun, said he was heading to New Bern this week from Sugar Land, Texas, hoping to find himself in the middle of the storm – which he managed to do.

"Nothing like the adrenaline of saving lives," he said. "Best medicine in the world. That's what we do.