By North Carolina Army National Guard Sgt. Brian Godette,
382nd Public Affairs Detachment DoD News
EASTOVER, S.C., October 15, 2015 — Just a week after
historic rainfall caused severe flooding in South Carolina -- devastating
lives, cities, and infrastructure -- the examples witnessed here and across the
state Oct. 13 were neighbors helping neighbors.
The South Carolina National Guard and emergency services
departments throughout the state began helping their citizens immediately, and
in a show of unity, camaraderie and support, have received assistance from the
North Carolina National Guard and others.
"This is our neighboring state, and we should want to
help everybody," said North Carolina Army National Guard Spc. Yazmaine
Chand-Singh, assigned to the Forward Support Company, 505th Engineer Battalion.
"If somebody needs help, that's what we are here for."
More than 2,500 National Guard assets are on the ground in
the area, including engineer support from North Carolina and more than 40 state
Guard members. Soldiers from the North Carolina Army National Guard’s 505th
Engineer Battalion took to local roads to begin assisting residents to traverse
more safely in the flood-damaged areas.
Roads Washed Out
"All the roads have washed out due to the significant
amount of rainfall that the area has received, so we are doing a hasty road
repair so residents can at least get in and out of their homes until the
[Department of Transportation] can get out here and fix it," said North
Carolina Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jack Gray, noncommissioned officer in
charge of the 505th Engineer Battalion’s 882nd Engineer Company.
The decision to assist South Carolina was an easy call, Gray
said. "We all signed up to support and defend our country, and this is one
of the ways we can support our country," he added.
Gray, a North Carolina Department of Transportation
employee, said he found himself in familiar territory working on the roads in
South Carolina, and uses his 15 years of experience to help the soldiers who
are with him on this mission.
"This is the type of work I do for a living,” he said,
“and in turn I try to pass that knowledge down to my soldiers."
Happy to Help
In the wake of destruction, the soldiers say they are happy
to help.
"I was excited when I got the orders for state active
duty, because doing this makes me feel better, helping other people out,"
Chand-Singh said. "I've done more now doing stateside deployment than I've
done overseas during my mission in Kuwait. Everything is hands-on here --
helping the people and getting things done."
Working with local authorities is significant for the
National Guard’s citizen-soldiers, who know that at any time, they could find
themselves on the other end of a natural disaster.
"This is the eighth or ninth state active duty I've
done, and every time we've made a significant impact," Gray said.
"The local authorities, fire departments, police departments and DOT can
become overwhelmed, so we try to do the best we can."
The engineers arrived at an intersection in Eastover where
the roads were crumbling and huge craters made travel impossible. One home just
off one of the roads belonged to a family who happened to be outside when the
engineers arrived with their equipment, standing near a 20-foot-long ditch that
used to be their driveway.
"That first night it started and things got really bad,
the damage to my driveway happened," said Marcus Bostic, a resident of
Eastover and a firefighter with the city of Columbia. "Thankfully, my wife
woke me up, and I was able to move all my cars back to the farther end of the
property, and as I got closer, that's when I realized there was a gigantic
trench going through my driveway.”
Gray assured the family his team would do what they could to
help the Bostic family with their driveway before the day was over. "When
the dirt gets here, we can start doing the actual repairs on the washout areas,
like this gentleman's driveway, so they can be more mobile," he said.
Bostic looked on as the engineers began work on the nearby
road, and he began to recount the days during the flooding from the standpoint
of a local first responder.
First Responder’s Perspective
"It was bad," he said. "It was just so much
at one time. You are just asking yourself, ‘What do you do first?’"
He noted that as a firefighter, he usually knows what to do
when something happens, but said this situation was different. "A natural
disaster affects everybody, and you look at it and go, ‘Now who's going to help
me?’" Bostic said. "Now that you guys are out here, it's good to see
some reciprocation. You give, give, give, so actually it's a real good
feeling."
As Bostic spoke, 10-ton dump trucks rumbled down the road.
The dirt was dumped, and a case-skid steer loader, similar to a small bulldozer,
pushed it across the road and compacted it to smooth out the rough road.
"We haven't been able to drive our cars out since that
happened," Bostic said. "It's been over a week since I've driven my
car." With the help of the engineers from the 505th Engineer Battalion,
Bostic and his family will have use of their driveway again.
The image of neighbors from the north, companions on the
road to help others, was clear in South Carolina.
"I appreciate you guys and thank you for what you
do," Bostic said. "As a firefighter, people always look up to me, so
when it comes time for someone to help me out, I give the same appreciation I
get."
Posts
