Aug 31, 2008 12:31 pm US/Eastern
NYC First Responders Head To Gulf Coast Region
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
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First responders from New York City are headed south to help out ahead of Hurricane Gustav.
AP
Hurricane Gustav is expected to become a category five storm as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico. The tri-state is already sending help south. Dozens of first responders left Brooklyn Saturday and headed south.
"When the storm hits we can move right into the areas and go right to work," said NYPD Lieutenant Franco Barberio.
The team numbers about 40, including the canine officers, and its members were drawn from the FDNY, NYPD, EMS and OEM. They're traveling to a military base in the area.
When Battalion Chief Joe Downey and his team were in New Orleans three years ago, they went after the storm hit. This time they'll be in the region in advance, heading in as almost everyone else evacuates.
"It's time for you to leave the city," Mayor Ray Nagin said.
Already the tourist areas are becoming ghost towns, and the economic impact will impact not just New Orleans but the nation. "When you think about the ripple effect of the hotel rooms the restaurants, it's in the hundreds of millions," said Mary Beth Romig from the New Orleans Conventions & Visitors Bureau.
The storm will shut down the airport and hundreds of oil rigs. With losses estimated at nearly one million barrels each day, gas prices could be forced even higher.
"You cannot underestimate at least the initial impact these storms can have, not only on the industry but in the price of oil as well," said energy analyst Phil Flynn.
Downey, whose father died responding on 9/11, said his team knows how to maintain their focus on the work, but emotions are sure to run high on this return trip. "Once you get there and you're walking the streets its just blocks and blocks of houses are gone there's nothing left. It's hard to comprehend. Hopefully we don't see anything like that again," he said.
Last time, "the rescue guys walked 12 hours a day in the mud looking for people. You just do what you got to do," Downey said.
"Breaking down doors, making sure people out of there possibly collapses shore up buildings, if we have to get in there to make a search we have listening devices and search cams to look inside. We'll be able to do a lot of things," Downey said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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