Kansas troops help out Gustav victims
49 News travels to New Orleans to report on Kansans' efforts there
6:47 p.m. Sunday, September 7, 2008
New Orleans, LA — Clean up continues after Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana earlier this month. 49 News followed Kansas Adjutant General Tod Bunting as he traveled to some of the hardest hit areas.
As troops help those recovering from Hurricane Gustav, they may now have to prepare for the destruction that could come if Hurricane Ike moves into the Gulf of Mexico.
"We're going to survive. I've been here 54 years. We're going to be all right," Sylvia Stanely said.
Stanely has lived in New Orleans all her life. She left during Katrina and Gustav. Now like thousands of others, she doesn't have electricity and has no food in her house. She came to the New Orleans library to get food and ice. She's one of at least a thousand people that have come through the line. What she didn't know is that members of the Kansas Guard are the ones making sure she gets what she needs.
Part 2: You can read or watch part two of this series here.
Kansas Guardsman Sgt. Bill Andrews handed out hot meals. How long he'll stay depends on Ike.
"We're going to be here at least a week to two weeks. If that gets extended, that gets extended," he said.
In the Lower Ninth Ward, a little league baseball field was turned into a POD, or point of distribution.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin surveyed the area Saturday. The Big Easy didn't get hit as bad as it did during Katrina, he said, adding he hopes Hurricane Ike won't pay the Crescent City a visit .
49 News crews headed off to Carville in a Black Hawk helicopter to check out the guard's emergency operations center. That's where members of the Kansas Guard help coordinate information, supplies and efforts to get power back on throughout the state.
What Guard officials were not counting on was the amount of devastation Gustav would render in Port Barre. Gustav took out water, electricity and communications. So, the Kansas Guard answered the call for help. They set up their Incident Response Vehicle, which was used in Greensburg, and put the relief plan in motion.
Back in Baton Rouge, more Kansas soldiers are on standby in case Ike follows Gustav's path.
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