As FYI here is an email report of an expedition by my brother-in-law Dan who lives in Lafayette:
I called about 9:30, was surprised and relieved to hear that Danny was home. He was eating, but did get to talk to him for a minute. He said that when
he got to the rendevous point early this morning, there were 500 boats and most of the guys had a buddy - 1000 men ready to go help. He drove to New Orleans and launched his boat from I-10, and was working the area of Canal Street to the north, by City Park, the causeway. He made 50 trips, shuttling families to safety. The Coast Guard member who was with him turned out to be Matthew Brannon's boss! This man had lost his house, as did a paramedic that Dan helped. He had been working for four days straight.
Dan said that there was lots of activity and help and that the teamwork was amazing - the helicopters, the boats, the families who were grateful for rescue. I expressed concern for the children and Dan said that he was telling one little black boy that he (the little boy) would have quite a story to tell his grandchildren. He said the children seemed resillient and ready for adventure. I am sure that reality will hit, but I am thankful that the children are OK for now - at least the ones Danny was helping. He said that sometimes his boat went over cars. He could feel them hitting below and it took a bit to figure out what was navigable. He said that their church in Lafayette had commited to housing 100 people in the church - a commitment made to the Red Cross.
Now there are true American heroes - your brother-in-law and the other boat rescuers definitely included among them. God bless them and those they were able to ferry to safety.
Thanks for the eyewitness report from your brother-in-law. Nice to hear some good news. I am rather surprisecd to hear that parts of the boatlift were successful.
All I've been hearing all day is that the boats turned back because of the violence.
It's way too easy for folks removed from the situation to forget that the immediate/first responders:
a) didn't sleep while the storm screamed, and
b) lost their homes and possessions during and after the storm.
Another fabulous example of heroes. Thank you very much for this report.