Hurricane Katrina Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Strike Team
Lt. Ken Rost – Strike Team Leader
Sgt. Bill Ruppart
Deputy Joe Pollack
Deputy Rob Rotherham
Deputy Dave Joly
Deputy Dan Potter
Deputy Mike Choi
The following are the journals of Lt. Ken Rost, Strike Team Leader for the seven-member Douglas County Sheriff's unit voluntarily deployed to New Orleans to assist law enforcement in the wake of the deadly Katrina disaster. Two of the men previously served in New Orleans, another has disaster experience; having been on the New York Police Department on Sept. 11, 2001.
The journal entries were written by Rost as his team experienced their assignment and travel to New Orleans, and their deployment and duties in the ravaged city.
Journal of Operations update
September 8th, 2005
As most of you are aware, DCSO has deployed a law enforcement team to Louisiana to assist with disaster operations in New Orleans and surrounding Parishes. We have finally arrived at our staging area and are patiently awaiting our first mission.
When things started cookin’ down here, we saw that the need was quickly coming for additional law enforcement officers from around the country. The National Sheriff’s Association put out a nationwide broadcast asking for additional help. Douglas County registered our resources and received activation orders.
We have received a number of inquiries as to our progress, and I suspect that there is a lot of wondering out there what we might be doing. I think what I have decided to do is create a "daily" journal entry for all to see and keep up with us. It may start out kinda lengthy, but I would really like to try to paint a true picture of our experiences for all to share. You see, we did not, and are not doing this alone. Many of you have already experienced the hurricane in some way. Most noticeably, and most thankfully, many of you helped "get us outta town" and get down here. You had to drop what you were doing and provide some sort of support to our operation. Gathering supplies, filling out paperwork, going to stores, etc. It really was a tremendous task that we could not do alone, and to those of you that we owe thanks, thank you!
We finally received our activation orders at about 10:30 am on Tuesday morning. Since these guys had worked ALL of their holiday weekend getting us ready (you see our orders said we had to be self-sufficient for 4 days!) we were able to leave Castle Rock around 6 p.m. on that Tuesday. We were able to drive that night to Dumas, TX where we stayed for 4 hours, showered and hit it again after making sure Ruppart had enough coffee on board. Our intentions were most noble. We had hoped to drive into the Baton Rouge staging area about 2200 hrs. However, the devils of the night grabbed us and we had to pull over in a rest area north of Lafayette at about 0200 hrs. This rest area is about 2 hrs from the staging area, and it was literally packed with every piece of heavy equipment imaginable. Generators, front-end loaders, flatbeds, containers, private contractors, utility service vehicles etc., most assuredly destined for the area hit by the storm.
One of the incredibly nice and overwhelming parts of the trip was how welcomed we were by everyone wherever we went. Dallas, Shreveport, Lafayette, the list goes on. Everyone couldn’t say thank you enough. We even got a case of toys and pirate hats from a Long John Silvers where we stopped for lunch in case the kids needed something to play with. We hope that Potter will save some of the pirate hats for the relief efforts.
We finally arrived at our staging area about 1000 hrs (now I needed to make sure I had enough coffee) in Gonzales LA, which is located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We are at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. Equate it to the events center with a whole lot more land area. Good thing, there are over 100 cops here with vehicles, campers, bearcats, and all sorts of equipment.
OK, the weather...hot really doesn’t describe it, and there’s even a cool front in here. Cool front is defined as anything less than 95 degrees. 94 with 75% humidity is not my idea of a cool front. You don’t tolerate the weather, you wear it!.
We will be deploying to Harrah’s Casino first thing in the morning to meet up with New Orleans Police Department to get our assignments. Could be a number of different tasks we hear. Guarding contractors, escorting/protecting Urban Search and Rescue Teams, or just riding along with NOPD answering calls.
I promise that tomorrows "daily" will be much shorter, more concise, and provide an accurate description of what our mission is/was. The cops here are tired and desperately want to see their families and houses. They are grateful beyond belief and for that I am proud of our team here.
I’ll try to send some pictures along as well. Bless you for your support.
Ken Rost
DCSO Strike Team
"The Ascension Seven" (Ascension is the name of the Parish that we are staying in)
Journal of Operations update
September 9, 2005
I was sitting down to write this and there was so much input, and so much to say that momentarily I didn’t know where to start. I figured it out pretty quickly though. Every time they had an opportunity, New Orleans PD would stop and say, "Thanks for being here" and shake our hand. People (pretty few) on the street would profusely thank us for being here. That’s why were here, to help a community, give cops a break, and take care of business whatever that be.
"That be" for today happened to be patrol operations in District 2 and District 6 for New Orleans Police. For anyone that is at all familiar with the area, it is from the Superdome west and south. It includes the "Riverwalk", convention center, upscale neighborhoods and low-income housing. Our team worked by ourselves in this area (as a team, 3 vehicles on patrol together). Our mission was to help people, suppress crime, and be visible. That we did quite effectively, albeit geographically challenged. However, one of the "tools" we brought with us was a GPS navigation system that partnered with the SUPERIOR local knowledge of Rotherham and Joly proved invaluable.
The navigation was exacerbated by the obvious problem of water. Lots and lots of water. Our first body discovery happened pretty quickly in morning. It was under the bridge near the superdome. This bridge has been seen many times on the news. Shortly after this, we saw two men in a boat rowing towards us. It proved to be an Orleans Parish Deputy Sheriff. He had rowed into his house to take his dogs to dry land and set them free so they could take care of themselves.
We completed a couple house clearings that for a variety of reasons needed to be checked. We also checked a supermarket that had been looted. One of the more disappointing things about the looting that we saw compared to that of the population needs, such as the need for water, was that all that appeared to be taken was the cigarettes and Chivas Regal. Meat, eggs, drinks, and other essentials were all intact, rotting horribly, but intact.
Don’t know what to make of that other than it struck me as such an injustice that those in need weren’t getting what they needed, while others were satiating there "need" for a freebie... Guess it just epitomizes why we are here. Restore order and civil obedience.
I can describe today what we saw today as a whole lot of sensory input. Not seeing things (such as people) that you should be seeing, and seeing things you wish you hadn’t. Same with all of the senses. Noises ranged from complete silence to the roar of an inbound helicopter. Most noticeable was what can best be described as a stench that was nasty. Not completely intolerable, but you knew you couldn’t escape it, only avoid the stronger areas if you could.
There really are a lot of cops here, and every one of them wants to be here. There are cops from NYPD, Baltimore, Texas, even the ChiPs ! (You’re old if you flashed back to the TV show when I mentioned that) Even a contingent from Alaska is assigned to the task force. I mentioned yesterday that it was around 100 or more assigned to this task force. It is actually more like 200+ assigned to just this task force. There are thousands of cops most likely assigned to this area, but every one of them is needed.
Couple other quick notes that might be interesting to you. A lot of ties to the area on our team if you weren’t aware. (And even I wasn’t) Sgt. Ruppart has a son that is a Chief Petty Officer with the U.S. Coast Guard assigned to Mobile AL that is/will be in the area shortly for helicopter operations. Potter has a brother that is a cop in the area near where we are staying. Rotherham and Joly both worked for Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office for over 15 years. Jefferson Parish is the neighbor to New Orleans and also experienced a significant amount of damage and also needs help. However, you don’t here a lot about it on the news because it isn’t as recognizable as the Superdome and downtown. Choi just likes to eat like the people down here do. (Egad can he put some food away. We check his pockets to make sure he actually ate it versus squirreling it away for some other time. We really couldn’t believe he could gut all that was disappearing in front of us.) We did visit and take to Joly’s mom some water, power bars, cash and some friendly faces. She lives in Jefferson Parish and is doing quite well all things considered.
There really is no adequate way to describe the sights, sounds, and experiences. It is like taking the TV show Stargate SG-1 and making it real and 3 dimensional. Still just doesn’t seem real.
Ken Rost
DCSO Strike Team
"The Ascension Seven"
Journal of Operations update
September 10, 2005
Flat and cold. The best way I can describe how I feel now about the television coverage of Hurricane Katrina. It is not meant to be derogatory or demeaning, just TV does not do anything to convey what you see, feel, and smell on the ground here...
We started our day being reassigned to the New Orleans Police Department (Officially. We were originally assigned to the Louisiana Sheriff’s Task Force detailed to NOPD) District 5. After changing our first (and most likely not our last) flat tire, we headed in about noon or so. We checked in with the District 5 Sergeant and told to report at 1900 hours for night watch. We decided to help where we could, and for whatever reason we ended up on the roof of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. Attached soon you should see a pic or two. 50 floors up takes a little of the feel for the damage away, but what an awesome sight.
Roll call at 1900 hrs was an interesting experience. It was held in a ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel, which is now home (literally) to most of the New Orleans cops. The captain in charge of the watch greeted us warmly and thanked us profusely. They assigned us 2 officers to ride with us. (Names withheld by request) A couple very nice, but tired looking guys. He further conveyed to us the extreme danger associated with the water. They already had one officer in critical condition due to exposure to the water, and didn’t want any more. Any exposure to the water (direct contact) would require immediate medical attention. He said that the military had engaged a shooter the previous night as they had been fired upon. He wanted police officers off the streets by midnight so the military could conduct operations. We were assigned to patrol District 5. The captain also told us this area had the highest crime rate, drug rate, AIDS rate, and poverty. "A bad area" according to him.
We started by conducting a survey of the areas under water to see if the water had receded any. Some areas had gone down dramatically, others it hadn’t moved. We stopped on the Hwy 10 Bridge overlooking some of the areas. It just so happened that where we stopped on the bridge there was a USAR marking on the pavement indicating that a body was located just below us. Looking over the bridge the water appeared to have such a thick film that it almost looked like ice or some silicone layer. A strange blue trail wound in, around, and under the bridge. I shudder to think what nasty chemical that might have been... (This says nothing about smell associated with the water. Nothing I can say will ever be able to share that with anyone.)
We spent a lot of the night this way. Checking the water levels, getting surprised a little by military foot patrols (boy they can sneak up on ya. 82nd Airborne active duty), and most importantly checking on folks that stayed through the storm and still living in the area. This was broken only by the radio call from a neighboring district of automatic weapons fire. Unable to locate.
One interesting tidbit. We went by the houses owned by Fats Domino and his wife. Some of you may recall that he had to be rescued from his roof. His house had been totally submerged to the roofline. This was an area of storm surge. We were able to drive right to his front door. The damage in that area was nothing short of incredible. Boats hung up 6 feet in the air on fences, duffel bags hanging 10 feet in the air from trees, and did I mention the smell? Our cars will be thoroughly cleaned before we return. Trust me.
This was also an area that NOPD lost a lot of their fleet vehicles. They parked them by one of their stations for roll call. When they got out of roll call, the water had submerged them. They really don’t have much left down here. Cars, equipment, manpower. Nearly all were devastated. Officer (name withheld by request) has not been paid, lost nearly everything except his family. His wife, two 10-year-old twin daughters and 11-year-old son have been relocated. All he wants to do is get them back in school somewhere. He’s not guaranteed a paycheck, without his family, and is dependent upon FEMA for clothes. Yet he still pushes on.
O yea. Our ambassador. Joe Pollack walked up to one of the NYPD guys said "How yoo doon?" like he does. The guy immediately asked him what part of Brooklyn he was from. A language all their own... ;) We are also working on getting the phrase "fuhgedaboutit" right while we are down here.
Ken Rost
DCSO Strike Team
"The Ascension Seven"
Journal of Operations update
September 11, 2005
We spent the first part of our day cleaning and maintaining our vehicles. Believe me, you DO NOT want to keep this water/mud on you cars here. People/officials cannot tell us enough "Stay away from the water!" Inevitably you get into with the vehicles, so it became a priority.
We were assigned NOPD Officer (name withheld by request). He still cannot get to his house. Water had been to his roofline. He lost everything. Cars, house, pets, uniforms, ballistic vest, and has nothing. Nice guy, and very grateful that we are here. He said that if we were not here, there would be no patrols. They lost the District 5 station and over 70% of their fleet vehicles. You should be able to see a couple of their cars in the pictures. They are down 10-15 guys on the tour for a variety of reasons. Resignations, family concerns, or other reasons unmentioned.
It is really eerie at night. This is a city that should be brightly lit, crowds, traffic, and lots of noise. None of this exists. Occasionally you turn a corner and encounter the military on patrol, or few and far between residents. We did find a vehicle that concerned us. Clean, undamaged, in an area that had been underwater. It had obviously just been stolen and abandoned. Because contractors and others continue to filter in, we expect that this kind of business will increase over the next couple of days especially as the water recedes exposing areas that had not been dry for a while.
We went by the NOPD District 5 station. It was under about 10 or more feet of water. We were quickly greeted by an obviously attention starved dog dubbed "survivor". Survivor quickly adopted us as his friends. We didn’t want to touch him for fear of diseases, which tore at our heartstrings. However, while we were standing there members of the US Marshals Service stopped by as well. One of them couldn’t stand it. He put him in the back of his car and took him with. Consider this a save.
Dispatch began airing "Welfare checks" for the night. These checks/ calls have been holding over a week or more. There was no way to keep up with them, but they had not given up. They will continue to check on and respond to these calls for service. Some other interesting calls for service were also aired. Gators and looters. Not exactly routine calls-for-service in my district, how about yours?
I can’t forget to share some of the more lighthearted moments in our journeys. Rotherham has undergone an interesting metamorphosis. His speech and mannerisms have changed. He has become a southern boy again, reborn! Everyone is working very hard and is very tired, but we are sharing a tremendous experience. The days are routinely pierced by the shrill wail of a siren as one of our team members (who shall remain nameless) routinely (at least twice a day) sits on his keys discharging his siren/alarm-equipped vehicle providing much needed levity.
I suspect that the people we were camped next to at 0200 hrs did not find this quite so humorous! One last thing...we apologize in advance for all the wrong turns, stop light/sign running, wrong ways on one-ways, and water evasive maneuvers we will do when we get back, definitely going to need to adjust to normal driving!
Ken Rost
DCSO Strike Team
"The Ascension Seven"