This Is How We Roll...
Last week I saw a report on the evening news that our local utility company, San Diego Gas & Electric, was preparing to send utilities trucks and crews to the East Coast to assist in the efforts to restore power to areas devastated by Superstorm Sandy. This surprised me at first, considering the distance they were going to have to travel to get there, but then I remembered all of the out-of-state fire trucks and utility trucks that showed up during the wildfires that ravaged San Diego County in October 2003 and again in October 2007, when 530 square miles of land was burned and thousands of homes were destroyed.
In addition to SDG&E, Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power have been sending trucks, equipment, and crews back east in response to the request from FEMA and the overwhelming need for assistance. In an unprecedented move, President Obama authorized an airlift by the U.S. Air Force Reserve to expedite the delivery of 70 Southern California Edison utility trucks from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, CA to Stewart Air National Guard base in Newburgh, NY. Last Thursday, 6 C-5s and 8 C-17s flew in 125,000 pounds of equipment which arrived in a matter hours, rather than days. More than 630 utility workers have been deployed with many more ready to respond, according the California Utilities Emergency Association.
The California National Guard 129th Rescue Wing has sent 2 C-130 aircraft, 2 HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, and two highly trained Pararescue teams, specializing in search and rescue, emergency response and medical aid. 15 members of California's Urban Search and Rescue Incident Support Team have been sent to several areas in the northeast. This team is made up of first responders from Riverside, San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles City and County and Orange County Fire Departments.
I am sure California is not the only state sending assistance back east, because after all, isn't that what we, as Americans, do best? There is a commercial by a news analyst where he says something to the effect "in the worst of natural disasters, American are unique in their ability to run towards the problem, instead of away from it." And this is one of those times, when we set aside our differences and we come together in cooperation and support to help our fellow Americans in need.
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