CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In a state known for back roads that wind over mountains and up hollers, West Virginia National Guard teams are providing immediate, boots on the ground support during the June flooding and aftermath according to Sgt. Nicholas Rhodes, Liaison Officer Coordinator for the WVNG Joint Operations Command.
Community Assessment Teams perform a wide variety of essential duties and are often the first presence of the National Guard in communities, Rhodes said. With two vehicles and four personnel at a minimum, the teams engage in everything from data collection, supply delivery, search and rescue to route reconnaissance and evacuee transport.
Spec. Ryan White, a combat engineer with 111th Engineering Brigade, leads CAT Team One. He has been on the ground since the first day of flooding and has seen almost every aspect of flood duty.
His team started by working hand-in-hand with the Clendenin Fire Department Swiftwater Rescue Team and Soldiers from the WVNG Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package.
"We had a good number of people trapped in Clendenin, across the river. We were first tasked to find a place to put in the (swift-water rescue) boats and, as the water receded, we were still trying to get people out while the current was massive," White said.
"Within a couple of hours we were able to drive the [Light Medium Tactical Vehicles] close enough, and it turned out there was a high number of elderly people and infants. We were able to load them up into LMTVs and safely take them to Capitol High School."
According to Cpt. Will Hargis, with the CERF-P team, more than 60 people were rescued from critical situations by Friday evening. The CAT Teams moved three truckloads of civilians.
"I've never seen anything like that first day we were here," said Pfc. Travaris Holmes, also on CAT Team One. "We hauled trucks of people that lost their homes, vehicles and everything to the flood. It felt good being able to help those people, especially the elderly."
From there the teams moved to the back roads, where they performed reconnaissance around Kanawha County. With cell towers and phones lines down, the team got much of their information from people they met on the road or while doing house-to-house visits, which allowed them to communicate on-the-ground situational details immediately back to the joint operations center.
While driving up one road, White said, they encountered a resident who informed them about the smell of natural gas that was farther up the holler. White and Holmes, who are both volunteer firefighters and familiar with the effects of a gas leak, investigated and confirmed there was a broken pipe and large leak next to three houses.
"We knocked on their doors and explained we couldn't make them get out, but that we highly recommended it," he said. "The fumes can be dangerous to breathe, and they definitely didn't need to light up a cigarette."
"For us here in the Joint Operations Center, (the CAT Teams provide) everything from numbers of displaces persons, businesses that have been destroyed and home that have been destroyed," said Rhodes.
"Also they assist in the communities by delivering not only supplies from the military - like MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and water, but also supplies from the donation centers. Search and rescues are also part of their mission. If you had a family member that no one had heard from yet, or even an area that no one had been out yet, the CAT Team can go out and assess the area and determine how passable it is and if anyone in the area needs assistance."
"We love when people wave us down," White said. "It means they need something that we can help with, or need something we can get, or want to tell us something, share information."
White, who is also a combat engineer, can perform swift recons of bridges and roadways. Driving a 6-ton LMTV, he had to be aware of the safety for himself and others coming behind him. If anything seemed dangerous, he could call the information in so a more thorough assessment could be made.
CAT Teams are made up Soldiers or Airmen with a variety of specialized jobs. It's a volunteer duty and their units usually identify the troops. A lot of people on this duty have done flood duty in the past, Rhodes said, and are very qualified for this job. It's important they are all volunteers and want this tasking, he said.
Being that they cover a lot of miles -- more then 800 this past week, according to White -- and have a lot of face time with residents, White and another team member, Spc. James Neesmith, try to keep informed about available resources.
"I think that's what sets this state apart," Neesmith said. "The amount of response in a time of need ... I'm amazed at all the different teams set up."
Neesmith said he has had people come to him asking how to properly dispose of American flags and said he was humbled in this time of crisis that West Virginians were still concentrating on things like that. The team got in contact with a local Veterans of Foreign War post and now has a drop-off point for proper disposal of American flags.
"It's all those little details that are making people's lives easier," Neesmith said.
With a possibility of flooding in the northeastern part of West Virginia, the joint operations command once again turned to CAT Teams. By the evening of July 4th, there were eight LMTVs and 16 personnel deployed in three counties around the eastern panhandle, standing by, ready to roll out those back roads.
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