Hurricane Laura...Katrina 2.0?

[Certaindeaf]

" 180 inches of rain in some areas. "



Portland: Annual precip. 24.59" (per year)

But it's a wet rain.

 

[Bushman]

I was there for the Hurricane Camille in 1969. Gulfport, Pass Christian, Bay St Louis. It was a Cat 5 with winds to 180 mph. Very devastating.

Did you lose anything in that one? I feel bad for people who don't have flood insurance and don't realize it's not included in a standard home insurance policy.

 

[Bushman]

Looks like this storm barely did anything, false alarm.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Joking, Right?

 

[Bushman]

Joking, Right?

Not sure how old you are but if you were old enough to be into this stuff when Katrina hit, yeah, this is nothing compared to that. Hence why it's not on the front page of Yahoo like Katrina was for weeks...

 

[oldcorpgunny]

Did you lose anything in that one? I feel bad for people who don't have flood insurance and don't realize it's not included in a standard home insurance policy.

Actually, the only things that I lost were my uniforms and my boots!

 

[Ura-Ki]

Not sure how old you are but if you were old enough to be into this stuff when Katrina hit, yeah, this is nothing compared to that. Hence why it's not on the front page of Yahoo like Katrina was for weeks...

I was near the end of my 20, hovering over roof tops doing winch rescues and treating the casualties before the winds had died down!
True, this did far less damage, despite being worse, but that's only because the storm didn't land smack dab in the middle of New Orleans like Katrina did, and that's a biggy!

 

[oldcorpgunny]

I was near the end of my 20, hovering over roof tops doing winch rescues and treating the casualties before the winds had died down!
True, this did far less damage, despite being worse, but that's only because the storm didn't land smack dab in the middle of New Orleans like Katrina did, and that's a biggy!

Wow! You guys had birds in the air in high winds? Yikes!

 

[Bushman]

I was near the end of my 20, hovering over roof tops doing winch rescues and treating the casualties before the winds had died down!
True, this did far less damage, despite being worse, but that's only because the storm didn't land smack dab in the middle of New Orleans like Katrina did, and that's a biggy!

Right, which was my point, it barely did anything compared to that. What brought you here from NOLA? Or were you in the guard?

 

[Ura-Ki]

Wow! You guys had birds in the air in high winds? Yikes!

Yup, we were linked up with the Coasties hand flying it in 70+ knot winds because the GPS couldn't maintain a Hover Lock, and none of the civi stuff could maintain a safe hover, even weather cocked into it! That was hairy knuckle all the way for several hours! Our Pilots are the Very Best in the world, and they made it look easy as a summer breeze! On the ground, we had to lift our pilots out of the birds and load them on stretchers, because they were exhausted beyond the limits! 4 hours later, we were back at it!

The crazy stuff we did in our Helis every day, scares the older me every time I remember that stuff!
I still miss it!

 

[Ura-Ki]

Right, which was my point, it barely did anything compared to that. What brought you here from NOLA? Or were you in the guard?

I was active duty, stationed in Germany coming off my 4th rotation in Assganastan, when the alert came down, we loaded our birds aboard the C-5's and headed in right behind the storm as it made land fall, and were orbiting just off the coast waiting for the winds and rain to die down enough to land behind the main part of it! That was more scary for us, those big arse C-5's don't do so good in high winds! Once we were on the ground and unloaded, we wasted no time getting our birds up and into the maw with the Coasties, who are the REAL hero's of that story! What those guys did in those first few days was nothing short of medal worthy, they should write songs about those guys!

 

[Bushman]

I was active duty, stationed in Germany coming off my 4th rotation in Assganastan, when the alert came down, we loaded our birds aboard the C-5's and headed in right behind the storm as it made land fall, and were orbiting just off the coast waiting for the winds and rain to die down enough to land behind the main part of it! That was more scary for us, those big arse C-5's don't do so good in high winds! Once we were on the ground and unloaded, we wasted no time getting our birds up and into the maw with the Coasties, who are the REAL hero's of that story! What those guys did in those first few days was nothing short of medal worthy, they should write songs about those guys!

Holy bubblegum, did an Army guy just praise the Coast Guard?! They are usually the butt of jokes galore. Though I think some of them are considered federal law enforcement since they have a LE mission as well and fall under DHS most of the time...funny how that works. DHS and DoD...depending on the need.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Holy bubblegum, did an Army guy just praise the Coast Guard?! They are usually the butt of jokes galore. Though I think some of them are considered federal law enforcement since they have a LE mission as well and fall under DHS most of the time...funny how that works. DHS and DoD...depending on the need.

Better check my Avatar again there BUDDY, note the bent wings!

 

[Bushman]

Better check my Avatar again there BUDDY, note the bent wings!

Can't see much in there, looks like an old small plane. Coast Guard was in Germany and Afghanistan???

Edited to add: Oh not the avatar but the wings below it, I see. I don't know all the Air Force, Navy and CG insignia. It looks almost AF to me. I learned the Army's stuff fairly well in my 7 years with DoD and counting...


You ever watch Garand Thumb or Mat Best? They make some pretty funny clips about CG because they are ex Army Spec Ops/Current Army spec ops in Garand's case. Garand has some pretty funny clips that he does. I thought about joining the CG recently since I'm too old for the Army but I have a medical DQ that DQ's me from practically anything but a desk...I take blood thinners...

 

[Ura-Ki]

Can't see much in there, looks like an old small plane. Coast Guard was in Germany and Afghanistan???

 

[HaveGun]

Yup, we were linked up with the Coasties hand flying it in 70+ knot winds because the GPS couldn't maintain a Hover Lock, and none of the civi stuff could maintain a safe hover, even weather cocked into it! That was hairy knuckle all the way for several hours! Our Pilots are the Very Best in the world, and they made it look easy as a summer breeze! On the ground, we had to lift our pilots out of the birds and load them on stretchers, because they were exhausted beyond the limits! 4 hours later, we were back at it!

The crazy stuff we did in our Helis every day, scares the older me every time I remember that stuff!
I still miss it!

Be thankful you guys were in the 60's. I worked on and flew in the old Sea Kings...



And I agree that helo pilots are the best; extremely skilled and crazy folks that are the most down to earth and fun to hang out with.

 

[Bushman]

View attachment 741476

Hahaha, a PJ I believe they call it for short? I worked with one long ago. We had one PJ on the EP team with a cadre of ex SEALs and a couple cops. He was one quiet dude...The SEAL's loved to tell stories of BUD's (if asked) but this guy would just sit quietly...

What's funny is all that hell and war, you know what broke them? Corporate. Within 90 days of becoming the manager of the EP team, the manager would quit. Next guy would take his place, all excited for the manager gig, and I was like really? Are you blind to the turnover in that role? Then 90 days or less, he'd be gone as well, over and over again. Goes to show you corporate can REALLY suck.

 

[oldcorpgunny]

Be thankful you guys were in the 60's. I worked on and flew in the old Sea Kings...

View attachment 741487

And I agree that helo pilots are the best; extremely skilled and crazy folks that are the most down to earth and fun to hang out with.

My friend Dan is a retired CWO5 and still flying air ambulance at 73!

 

[RicInOR]

maw with the Coasties, who are the REAL hero's of that story! What those guys did in those first few days was nothing short of medal worthy, they should write songs about those guys!

That was what pi$$d me off about the Katrina coverage.
"No Federal Response" Except for the Coasties.
"No Response" Except for the National Guard / Air National Guard
Much heroic efforts by Many hero's.

 

[Ura-Ki]

That was what pi$$d me off about the Katrina coverage.
"No Federal Response" Except for the Coasties.
"No Response" Except for the National Guard / Air National Guard
Much heroic efforts by Many hero's.

They were so busy going off about who was in charge, and blasting all the folks who stayed behind!
They got caught short, didn't have a plan for something that big, and were standing around pointing fingers at each other! Meanwhile, we went about doing what needed doing! Best thing we did was close the airspace down, no MSM buzzing about in their little choppers filming, if you didn't fly SAR, you didn't fly at all, others needed the little Jet Fuel we had more!