Hurricane Sandy

[Walkman]

MIWG was sent an email last night to get prepped in case we're needed. No call to us yet, but they want us standing by.

Any other wings in the surrounding states in stand-by mode?

[SARDOC]

MIWG was sent an email last night to get prepped in case we're needed. No call to us yet, but they want us standing by.

Any other wings in the surrounding states in stand-by mode?

I know we are in standby mode, I think we are going to be assisting other states though.  This Civil Air Patrol Emergency Services concept is starting to be more of a regional concept than just staying within the wing.  That's a good thing.

[C/Arose]

Here in New Hampshire we felt it, but not the brunt of it like New York or New Jersey. Our GTs are on standby, and the likelihood of us being called out is getting smaller and smaller.

[41839j]

All the best to those affected by this and you are in my thoughts and prayers. 

I would expect NJ and NY untis to be out photographing the damage and assessing what needs to be done.  Any reports of damage to CAP planes, equipment, or personell?

[JayT]

I was stationed in Queens and Western Nassau yesterday. Lot of trees down, 90% of the island is without power. Dozens of fires in the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Over a hundred houses burned in Breezy Pointe.

[That Anonymous Guy]

I was stationed in Queens and Western Nassau yesterday. Lot of trees down, 90% of the island is without power. Dozens of fires in the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Over a hundred houses burned in Breezy Pointe.

My unit or group still hasn't been put on standby and I'm starting to get annoyed. Where's your squadron?

[a2capt]

My unit or group still hasn't been put on standby and I'm starting to get annoyed. Where's your squadron?

Really? There's -A LOT- more going on out there than them looking for CAP. Go study for your next Achievement.

[JayT]

I was stationed in Queens and Western Nassau yesterday. Lot of trees down, 90% of the island is without power. Dozens of fires in the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Over a hundred houses burned in Breezy Pointe.

My unit or group still hasn't been put on standby and I'm starting to get annoyed. Where's your squadron?

Not an active member. I'm a Paramedic. Stay home and be safe.

[RiverAux]

NHQ did get a release out today: http://www.capvolunteernow.com/todays-features/?preparations_begin_as_hurricane_sandy_heads_toward_east_coast&show=news&newsID=15171

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS – With northbound Hurricane Sandy slamming into the East Coast, wings in the Northeast and Middle East regions have moved aircraft inland or into hangars and are keeping a close eye on the storm while awaiting requests to assist as needed.

Preparations began Thursday in the Maryland Wing, for instance, with members making plans to safeguard aircraft and vehicles. The next day, Maryland members began to direct aircraft to make use of available hangar space at home stations. In addition, specified aircraft were directed to alternate airfields, with CAP planes at Easton, Frederick Municipal, Easton and Martin State airports moved to Greater Cumberland Regional Airport.

Also Friday, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency asked that the wing staff  the CAP desk at the Emergency Operations Center in Reisterstown around the clock , from 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28 through 7 a.m. Wednesday.

To the south of Maryland, Col. David E. Crawford, North Carolina Wing commander, cautioned members to "hope for the best, but expect the worst" in the face of the storm and its aftermath.

The State Emergency Operations Center began receiving damage and flooding reports from some coastal communities Sunday. Hard hit was Pender County, particularly Topsail Island, where beach homes are built close together.

In addition, thanks to a major winter storm that moved in from the west even as Sandy was bearing down on the East Coast, "wet snow is falling in the North Carolina mountains, and Gov. Bev Purdue declared a state of emergency for 24 counties — this in addition to some 40 counties in eastern North Carolina," Crawford said.

"The North Carolina Wing is on full alert, and we are prepared to mobilize our personal and assets when we get the call."
Wings elsewhere in affected areas as far down as Florida have also taken steps to move or otherwise protect CAP aircraft from damage.

Those wings and others throughout the potentially affected areas are poised to respond to requests for assistance, which could include such missions as aerial imagery, emergency communications support, searches for missing aircraft or people, distribution of food or water, checking on residents or helping to fill and stack sandbags.

Well, the release was dated today but was basically the same as the one they sent out before it hit.

[fyrfitrmedic]

I was stationed in Queens and Western Nassau yesterday. Lot of trees down, 90% of the island is without power. Dozens of fires in the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Over a hundred houses burned in Breezy Pointe.

My unit or group still hasn't been put on standby and I'm starting to get annoyed. Where's your squadron?

Not an active member. I'm a Paramedic. Stay home and be safe.

+1

FF/EMT-P here - we were a little busy in SE PA but otherwise dodged a major bullet. I didn't expect and didn't receive an activation call from CAP.

[JayT]

I was stationed in Queens and Western Nassau yesterday. Lot of trees down, 90% of the island is without power. Dozens of fires in the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Over a hundred houses burned in Breezy Pointe.

My unit or group still hasn't been put on standby and I'm starting to get annoyed. Where's your squadron?

Not an active member. I'm a Paramedic. Stay home and be safe.

+1

FF/EMT-P here - we were a little busy in SE PA but otherwise dodged a major bullet. I didn't expect and didn't receive an activation call from CAP.

Hospital based and paid employee of the volunteer service. We've been pretty busy, but my primary area wasn't hit as hard as it could of been. My hospital based gig got slammed after I went off tour apparently. By around three pm ish yesterday they we pulling us off of our CSL's and having us shelter inside. Be safe brother.

[Huey Driver]

I'm fairly sure that no NJWG assets were damaged.

I was out for 12 continuous hours of disaster relief today. After being out all day, I saw that there's a lot of damage. They could really use CAP's help out there but we're not getting the tasks at the moment (at least on the ground). If we were to get some more ground tasks, we could definitely use some help from other wings.

Edit: Ground missions pending... no further details to be posted on here anyway.

[CAPDan]

Found a picture of CAP Cadet handing out food in Queens NY for Sandy victims.



Slide Show
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49596252/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

[Майор Хаткевич]

C/AB with one insignia wrong and one missing.

Yea, I went there.

[CAPDan]

Actually both cutouts are there, but they are not 1 inch up and centered, the wing patch looks to be one inch instead of 1/2 inch. But uniform inspection was not the reason for my post.

[754837]

The young man was providing participating & represented CAP well. 

[EMT-83]

It's not clear in the photo, but those people are handing the food back, because they noticed the improper insignia placement. Not.

[CAPDan]

The young man was providing participating & represented CAP well.

Precisely

[Eclipse]

[RiverAux]

Yesterday's release: 

MIDDLE EAST REGION — The Maryland Wing began photo imaging flights today to document Hurricane Sandy's damage in Calvert County and along the Chesapeake Bay shoreline, while the Delaware Wing's imagery flights for the Federal Emergency Management Agency entered a second day.

Meanwhile, along with those two Middle East Region wings, Civil Air Patrol's  National Operations Center reports that five Northeast Region wings are flying Hurricane Sandy relief missions – Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island..

At first light this morning, Lt. Col. John Henderson, the Maryland Wing's homeland security officer, flew Christina Macey of the Calvert County Emergency Operations Center over specific points of critical infrastructure in the county; CAP's photographs will be compared with baseline photographs of the same area to determine the extent of the damage. The photos were taken by Majs. Jim Schmidt and Jeff Koubek, the Harford Composite Squadron's communications and assistant communications officers, respectively.

North of Maryland, three Delaware Wing mission pilots – Majs. Bob Buccino, wing director of operations; Ray Stone, wing counterdrug officer; and 1st Lt. Steve Cannon, assistant operations officer for the Coastal Patrol Base 2 Memorial Composite Squadron – began flying out of Dover Air Force Base and New Castle County, Summit and Sussex County airports late Tuesday afternoon. They continued flying until low visibility that evening prevented further photography.

The Delaware Wing flights, expected to continue through Friday, are concentrating on roads and bridges and providing images to access routes encumbered by trees, mud, water, electrical wires or other obstacles. FEMA will use the photos to assess storm damage and to allocate the resources needed to restore the roadway infrastructure.

In Maryland, Capts. Marty Sacks, assistant operations officer for Group 2, and John Ralph, Bowie Composite Squadron commander, will fly imagery missions today to provide the state Emergency Management Agency with damage assessment photos of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline as well as areas around Ocean City on the Atlantic coast.

The hardest-hit areas -- including the barrier islands and the Atlantic coastline from the Delaware to the Virginia state lines; the west side of Chesapeake Bay from Gunpowder Falls to  Dundalk, Baltimore Harbor and Riviera Beach; and the west side of Chesapeake Bay from Green Haven through Annapolis and to Chesapeake Beach -- are designated as top priority.

The Maryland Wing will also take photographs of Kent Island, the eastern shoreline in Talbot County, the eastern shoreline of Dorchester County and the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay from Chesapeake Beach south to California, in St. Mary's County. The final sortie will cover the southern part of Chesapeake Bay, including Deal Island south to Crisfield, the islands west of that area and north along the coast to Taylor's Island.

The Maryland sorties are expected to continue through Friday, when the Susquehanna River is expected to crest.

"These flights provide a critical service to the state of Maryland in determining infrastructure needs and problems in real time," said Col. John Knowles, Maryland Wing commander. "I salute the members of the Maryland Wing for the innumerable ways in which they have stepped up in this crisis, from setting up a staging area and conducting flights to repositioning aircraft and manning the state EOC."

Along with aerial imagery missions, the Delaware Wing also provided 24-hour emergency radio coverage at the state Emergency Management Agency from Oct. 28-Oct. 30, as Sandy was bearing down on the area. The coverage included operation of a statewide radio net with regularly scheduled check-ins.

That support also included high-frequency communications in case the emergency reached a point where the normal communications infrastructure was unavailable.

"The Delaware Wing participates in homeland security and disaster response exercises that tests the readiness of local, state and national organizations responding to national-level emergencies, including both natural disasters and terrorism incidents," said Col. William "Ziggy" Bernfeld, wing commander.

"The support the wing is providing in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is the type of activity our members are trained to support, and they are doing an excellent job."

At least as far as this release goes, we're apparently sticking in the little lane we have for ourselves of doing overflights and taking photos.  Guess New York wing hasn't got their public affairs guys working on this as no mention of a CAP ground game.