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Lincoln sends search, rescue team to Texas

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By HILARY KINDSCHUH / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Jul 22, 2008 - 10:29:08 pm CDT

A 34-member Lincoln search and rescue task force has left for San Antonio in anticipation of Hurricane Dolly, which was upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday afternoon and was expected to make landfall Wednesday.

The Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department’s Urban Search & Rescue Task Force left Monday night to help local authorities prepare for and respond to potential storm-related disasters, said Deputy Chief Dean Staberg. The team includes drivers, canine handlers and firefighters from Lincoln and Omaha.

“In this case, I think they’re anticipating a large event with a major impact,” Staberg said.

Story Photo
Deputy Chief Dean Staberg

Lincoln will not lose any emergency services capability while the task force is deployed, Staberg said. The federal government pays for the department to fill in for people responding to the storm.

At 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the storm’s center was about 110 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 9 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.

Emergency officials feared major flooding problems and urged coastal residents to prepare. Texas Gov. Rick Perry activated 1,200 National Guard troops and other emergency crews.

Mindful of the disastrous evacuation before Hurricane Rita hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 2005 — when far more people died from heat-related injuries and auto accidents fleeing the storm than from the severe weather — Perry also ordered 250 buses to be staged in San Antonio. He called on fuel teams to be ready to keep gas stations supplied and to help stranded motorists.

The Lincoln task force has responded to a number of disasters across the nation, including the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Hurricane Katrina and the tornado last year in Greensburg, Kan.

Most recently, the task force sent canine resources to Little Sioux, Iowa, to search for missing boy scouts after a June tornado there killed four boys.

Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com. The Associated Press contributed to this article.


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Here it comes wrote on July 22, 2008 10:18 am:
" Another Reason to raise gas prices "

 cdill wrote on July 22, 2008 10:37 am:
" While I agree with you about the gas prices. I am more concerned with the folks that are in the path of the storm. I would imagine that they would much rather pay an extra $1 per gallon of gas than to watch their house fill up with 5 or 6 feet of water and mud and possibly just be blown away all together. I hope everything works out okay down there and the damage is limited. "

 me wrote on July 22, 2008 11:01 am:
" I am sure there are better trained people that are a lot closer.... "

 SB wrote on July 22, 2008 12:07 pm:
" perhaps they shouldn't live there if they don't expect their "house fill up with 5 or 6 feet of water and mud and possibly just be blown away all together."? "

 Tome wrote on July 22, 2008 12:17 pm:
" USAR teams are on a rotation, to who goes first, real big of you to send the texas task force in instead of letting them deal with their own family, better trained? "

 Why wrote on July 22, 2008 12:31 pm:
" What a waste of my tax dollar. The storm hasn't even hit yet. It's still a tropical storm. People in hurricane prone zones have plenty of time to prepare themselves and to seek safe shelter. Are we going to start sending teams in advance of any POTENTIAL disaster? Why am I paying for this in a city that can't get a grip on their budget. Don't get me wrong, if they are needed and can truly help they need to go. But we don't even know if they are needed yet. What a waste!
The feds pay for this? Think again. The feds taxes are gleaned from ours and in this case return some of it back to our coffer for this uneeded (so far) effort. We're paying. Who are they trying to fool?
If this storm diminishes before landfall Lincoln will be continue to be fodder for a laugh. "

 Haters Ball wrote on July 22, 2008 12:35 pm:
" Really, better trained people closer?? Perhaps they shouldn't live there?? Wow, way to care about your fellow man! Maybe when your house gets blown away all together by a tornado, and you have to get rescued from the pile that used to be your home, you can make sure the person who rescued you is from less than 100 miles away, then you can discuss how you should have lived somewhere else. Ridiculous. "

 cdill wrote on July 22, 2008 12:37 pm:
" SB, would that be the same thing as us living in Nebraska and having to deal with tornados? I didn't blame the people in Hallam when nearly all of their town was destroyed by a tornado. Nature does whatever it wants to do. No matter were you go, you will never be immune to nature. I never hold a person's choice to live somewhere against them when it comes to natural events.

Outstanding display of compassion from a fellow Midwesterner! I like to think that the majority of the folks around this part of the country are some of the most compassionate and caring people anywhere in our fine country. Please don't taint the majority with your negativity. "

 kr wrote on July 22, 2008 1:04 pm:
" No matter where you live you are always in the path of some sort of disaster, so perhaps you shpuld try and show some sort of consideration. I wouldn't have thought that is something that had to be mentioned in a situation like that. "

 Hmm wrote on July 22, 2008 1:08 pm:
" Why is it that lincoln has to send our guy's every time there is a disaster? Ok so the federal goverment pays for us to replace the guys that go down there. What they do is pay our firefighters who stay here to work overtime. And then our city pays our guys who go down there for the entire time they are gone. Every hour they are gone. And now we are sending them for a potential hazard that hasn't even happened yet. And may not cause signifigant damage in the first place. Sounds to me like they got a pretty good racket going on at the expense of all of us tax payers. "

 to me wrote on July 22, 2008 1:15 pm:
" the nebraska search team is a very highly trained group and there is very few of them in the United States. We should be so lucky to have one of them based in Lincoln "

 Concerned wrote on July 22, 2008 1:17 pm:
" A little support for these people would be nice. How would you feel if it were your son, daughter, husband, wife, father or mother being sent to these disaster sites? My son is on the way to San Antonio and I pray that he, those who are with him, and those who live in the way of this storm stay safe. Get a grip people and show a little compassion and appreciation. "

 Why the complaining wrote on July 22, 2008 1:25 pm:
" I know some of these individuals and they are top notched. Due to their skills, Lincoln is recognized nationally for their ability. Isn't that what life is SUPPOSE TO BE ABOUT--helping one another. I can't believe the complaining and moaning. You people are sick and have a value problem. "

 ds wrote on July 22, 2008 1:30 pm:
" Each member of the USAR team puts their life at risk and sacrifices time away from family to help their fellow man. And some here are whining anonymously on a message board about alleged misspent dollars or being an armchair USAR quarterback? Come on. These folks are well-trained, hard working, and deserve your well-wishes, not your misguided criticism. This team is one of the best in the nation. Please consider being proud of them. "

 Cleancaveman wrote on July 22, 2008 1:41 pm:
" The members of the USAR Team are not paid by the City while on deployment; they are paid by the Federal Government. The Federal Government also pays the City for overtime/backfill of the shifts to cover the team members' shifts. Also, keep in mind that the team is made up of firefighters from Omaha and other surrounding cities, so this is NOT just about Lincoln. Yeah, the team members do have it pretty good! They get to drive all day/night to somewhere new, set up their tents and then staff 12 hour (or more) shifts in the heat and weather in a strange place for 10 days seeing death and distruction and who knows what all else... sounds like fun to me! "

 godspeed wrote on July 22, 2008 2:04 pm:
" May the lord be with these heros as they go and put their lives in danger.
Thank you to all of the fire and rescue and law enforcement officers who
perform such great duties! "

 Hmm wrote on July 22, 2008 2:42 pm:
" ok so why send a team that is halfway across the country to a place that hasn't even had a disaster and from the looks of it when the storm hits will not cause a major disaster. Is there no other team closer, say oklahoma, kentucky, lousianna, kansas even. Some of our countries finest trained response teams. a.k.a. the National Gaurd are located right next to them. And our federal goverment and taxes are already paying for them. Don't get me wrong we have I admire our men and women on the team. But its just another example of excessive spending when its not needed. I could understand if there was no other resources, but thats not the case. "

 TJ wrote on July 22, 2008 2:51 pm:
" WHY -- a waste? at least they are ready to go in the area instead of needing a few days to prepare and deploy. let's call it preventive measure. "

 ron wrote on July 22, 2008 3:09 pm:
" SB wrote on July 22, 2008 12:07 pm:
" perhaps they shouldn't live there if they don't expect their "house fill up with 5 or 6 feet of water and mud and possibly just be blown away all together."? "
same could be said for us living where there is tornados, tell me my friend where in the world are wqe all to live that is never affected by any storm? "

 Chris wrote on July 22, 2008 3:26 pm:
" There doesn't seem to be enough of this going around: I just wanted to thank the team for helping out fellow Americans. They took time, training, effort, and dedication to become a respected group, and they are using their efforts to the best of their ability. Thank you for helping. We appreciate it. "

 Really wrote on July 22, 2008 3:33 pm:
" The 'heroes' who are risking life and injury did go to the WTC following sept 11th. However, it is my understanding that they got no where near ground zero and took no actual part in the rescue effort. They were told 'thanks, but you can go back to Nebraska'. Another case of LFR getting a pat on the back when they haven't really done anything to deserve it. Of course most of that patting is done with their own arms. "

 bs wrote on July 22, 2008 4:16 pm:
" Oh yes they put their life on the line. Well, folks they chose that profession, it's what they want to do, just like everyone else chooses what they want to do so take them off your pedistal. "

 What it really costs us wrote on July 22, 2008 4:30 pm:
" The USAR team get paid by Uncle Sam (we the people) at their normal rate until they reach contract overtime (and tons of it). Many will be on ovetime as soon as they receive the call to start riding to Texas. That extra time figures into their retirement, which is established by the highest years. These men and women will fight to take these trips and collect the monstrous paychecks they'll get. The ones that work overtime in Lincoln to cover for their USAR teams benefit almost a much. "

 Umm.... wrote on July 22, 2008 4:34 pm:
" "cdill"....Please don't taint the rest of us who are living in reality versus a fairytale!!! "

 A friend of the family wrote on July 22, 2008 11:42 pm:
" When my best friend said last night that her husand had to be deplyed to Texas I was proud for knowing someone that has taken the step to be trained to help others.Someone that care so much about others that he doesn't even know but still wants to help. The family had plans to go camping this weekend. Instead he is headed off to Texas to help others that might be injured or possibly dead after this storm goes through. I can't believe the people that are complaining maybe about having to pay for this or that. What happened to people helping others in need?? We should be proud that we actually have a team that is prepared to help others in need. We never know when we may need their help, especially living here in tornado alley. Way to go Capt Wiebe and all the others that have traveled to Texas to help others in need. We hope and pray that your help is not needed but if it is, we know that you will give everything you can to help. "

 Sad to read wrote on July 23, 2008 7:42 am:
" It is so sad to read some of these comments, and after a while I have just learned to accept that some people are never happy with what is been done for our fellow man/women. If the truth would be known, they ones doing all the complaining about Lincoln send a team down would aloso be the first to complain if their house, family or possions were destroyed and someone was't here to help. It ois like to old saying some people would complain even if the got hung with a new rope. People, grow up get involved and learn the facts before you talk. "

 Agreed with Sad wrote on July 23, 2008 10:54 am:
" How awesomely shameful. There are possibly a number of lives that are going to be effected by this storm. It is an honor that we have men and women that are selfless and honorable that will rise up to the task of leaving their own families to aid those that might lose everything. How cowardly of you all to criticize absolutely NOTHING! Judgement coming from selfish shut-ins that no nothing about a caring heart or common humanity. What a pity. "

 get informed wrote on July 23, 2008 11:15 am:
" It is sad to read all the negative comments about those who are willing to leave their homes and families, travel to a disaster area just to help the afflicted. As someone formally associated with the team, I can assure you that no deployment is ever a picnic or an easy paycheck. It's the most difficult work that you can imagine. Searching woods and flooded homes looking for possible survivors but finding only cadavers. Working 12 hour shifts while living in tents or school gyms and eating MREs. Yeah, good times. And yes, the team that traveled to the WTC spent very little time at ground zero, instead they staffed NYC fire stations as that is what was asked of them. Keep in mind that city lost 344 firefighters that day. As for the early (and some might say premature) response to this disaster, keep in mind the critisism FEMA got for it's slow response to Katrina. These men and women will always have my deapest respect for continuing to staff these teams. "

 Kent wrote on July 23, 2008 11:28 am:
" "Durr there goes my tax dollars"

Get over it. We help other people. The trend now is to be pre-emptive as long as all signs point to disaster. Remember that little think that happened down south? With the flooding? Yea we dropped the ball. Never again. "

 peb wrote on July 23, 2008 12:12 pm:
" If everyone would read the entire article BEFORE posting, we would find out that, "Lincoln will not lose any emergency services capability during the task force deployment, Staberg said. The federal government pays for the department to fill in for people responding to the storm." "

 Kent wrote on July 23, 2008 12:23 pm:
" I don't think many read the entire article. They just think about their taxes when they think it is coming out of their pocket (when the burden is shared by the entire country as opposed to just our state).

We all know two things are certain in life. Death and taxes.

How come no one ever complains about death?

Because if they did they'd realize we pay taxes to help prevent death among other things in situations like this. "

 Scott wrote on July 23, 2008 12:37 pm:
" Can I get the names of those complaining about their tax dollars? That way when you get hit by a tornado, we'll know that you don't want your tax dollars wasted trying to save you. "

 SB wrote on July 23, 2008 1:17 pm:
" Since the creation of the earth’s current continents the Gulf of Mexico has done one thing; get hit by hurricanes. Am I to feel sorry or compassion for the people with houses on hurricane prone beaches that continually decide to live in harm’s way? Am I to feel bad for someone who builds in a flood zone and then their house floods? Okay – I’ll have some compassion, after all I’m sure some can’t afford to leave or have an emotional connection to the area, but how can you feel sorry for the people that take their insurance money and rebuild knowing that in less than a decade they will be accepting another check and rebuilding again. This isn’t India or China where there is no other place to live, there are no construction codes, and natural disasters mean hundreds of thousands dead – Americans in this area can afford and have room to move 10 miles off the coasts, but they would lose their ocean view. Rebuilding and accepting more rescue aid at the expense of others and another insurance check makes much more compassionate sense. Ever been to Corpus Christi or South Padre? It’s such a low lying area that even the most ignorant of ignorant would say ‘perhaps we shouldn’t settle our life and belongings here’. Ever looked at a map of the Gulf? It looks like a giant void of a hurricane – wonder why? Yes, tornadoes do damage throughout the US, however these are unpredictable and do far less overall property and life damage so hardly a comparable natural disaster. These are not preventive measures, these are clean-up measures; preventive measures would be not living in hurricane prone areas. Yes, the paid rescuers are doing their job and putting their lives’ on the line, and I’m sure they’re not questioning why they are leaving their families to rescue someone who knew they would need rescuing, but did nothing to prevent it. But it’s okay I guess, the federal government is paying for it; not us??? "

 Kent Houseman wrote on July 23, 2008 2:13 pm:
" Anyone living on a coast, by a major river (in many cases smaller ones), in any kind of flood plain, in tornado ally, places prone to huge snowfall, areas associated with droughts and wildfires, or anyone who is "ignorant" enough to live close to a fault line, should have known/know better when any kind of disaster hit/hits them.


Yes our tax dollars are paying for it, the comments here made it sound like our local money when a portion of the federal will pay for this if I am not mistaken. If you want to complain about that, just remember, if it wasn't our guys getting paid to go down there we would be footing the bill for people from another state who probably wouldn't choose to come to Nebraska to put that money into our economy for the poor taxpayers. I wouldn't care knowing that part of our taxes are helping them out but if it matters to you that much, please think about that.


You mentioned they decide to stay after they collect their insurance money. By your rational, why not blame the insurance companies? They are enabling them to keep living there right? What we need to do is get intelligent people like the ones posting comments to go down there and inform these residents that they should move somewhere where disasters don't happen..like...*crickets chirping* But then again, how could they not have known better if they decided to get insurance coverage for it?

What if another bad one slammed Florida. Would people expect the tens of millions hit to know better and move?

Yes I have been to Corpus Christi, i was admiring the ocean view though and forgot to tell them that they were the most ignorant of ignorant for deciding to live there.

A lot of these places have been around a lot longer than any kind of weather forecasting outside a farmer's almanac. They had their reasons then and the people have their reasons now. The vast majority live at the places they are at because they were born there or around there. I am glad for whatever reason people decide to stay where their roots are. Otherwise a place like Nebraska would have even less people. "

 jj wrote on July 23, 2008 3:17 pm:
" As I read the posts, I can't believe how many people just want to complain. Tax dollars, why nebraska people, what have they done for me lately? It's amazing that there are people out there that are so negative and so selfish. Boo hoo! I'm glad Nebraskans can help others, it shows we can be a kind and caring state. I'm sure the state is doing much worse things with the tax money, you should be writing them, not complaining. "

 George wrote on July 23, 2008 4:05 pm:
" Lets give them a HEROS welcome when they return home. Lets hope they look better than they did at Katrina and not recheck areas already checked. However, this is better than having 20 to 30 of them standing around for an air conditioner fire (ShopKo). "

 SB wrote on July 23, 2008 5:12 pm:
" I have no control over nor do I care about tax dollars being spent etc. and it doesn’t bother me if people choose to live in disaster prone regions (forests, floodplains, tornado alley, hurricane coasts, fault lines, sharp sticks, venomous ducks etc), that’s their choice, but don’t expect compassion for the ‘less fortunate minds’ (if you prefer a different word) when they have a choice. The people living in these high risks disaster zones don’t want your compassion, just your insurance premiums, donations, and federal aid so don’t mistake compassion for feeling sorry for the ‘less fortunate minds’. There’s one rule in nature and that is nature will always win – until recent generations we’ve forgotten this and we now expect technology and modern conveniences to prevail over common sense and are befuddled every time when it doesn’t. Your grandpa knew enough not to build his house on top of the hill where it would be blown away in a tornado and not to build it next to the river where it would be swept away in a flood. When New Orleans floods again will you feel sorry a second, third, or fourth time? The definition of stupidity is making the same mistake twice (and it’s obviously not the first or second time the Miss. Delta has flooded). I take responsibilities and practical precautions for the health and safety of my family, can I not expect anyone else to? "

 Chris wrote on July 23, 2008 5:44 pm:
" C'mon SB. You live in Tornado Alley. How'd you like it if people on a coast said that to you after a tornado destroy's your house.

Totally agree with you cdill.

If you all want a scapegoat, blame FEMA (and the administration) for being underfunded and poorly managed. This should be their jurisdiction. Yet another example of this administrations complete ineptitude, shameful. "

 Why wrote on July 23, 2008 6:52 pm:
" They can come home now...there's nothing to do..like I figured. What a waste of money. Hey, they got a free vacation though. "

 eric wrote on July 23, 2008 9:19 pm:
" First of all Texas is a big state and they don't have enough trained people for this purpose give me a break you bleeding heart money wasters "

 SB wrote on July 24, 2008 7:52 am:
" Bottom line; people that live in high risk areas (tornado alley is not high risk) don’t want your compassion, emotional support, or letters of support. They want your time, money, and energy so they can live their version of the American Dream. If need be I would be the first to jump on a search and rescue operations team for a natural disaster, but don’t expect compassion and sorrow for something that’s PREDICTABLE and PREVENTABLE. And I completely agree; lets pump more money into FEMA and disaster relief – that’ll prevent cyclical natural disasters from happening since FEMA controls that part of nature. "

 cdill wrote on July 24, 2008 9:18 am:
" I am just curious. If all of those people who "choose" to live in high risk areas were to take some of this advice and move to a place with less risk, how receptive would we all be? I like the population base here in Nebraska and I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be to impressed with 10 million or so new people moving in because they shouldn't live in a high risk area. Imagine Nebraska with a population of 15 to 20 million people. I don't think a lot of life long Nebraskans would be very happy with that. "

 LFR Mythbuster wrote on July 24, 2008 11:00 am:
" So much B.S., so little time. Space could be a problem, so I'll get right at it.

There are very few USAR teams in the Midwest. Most are concentrated on the coasts. Google "Urban Search and Rescue" and you'll be able to find the FEMA website and be able to see where they are located. The three closest teams to TX (MO, TN, and NE) were predeployed. The TX team was not deployed as FEMA (who controls USAR) has a policy not to deploy in state assets (let them take care of their own).

There are no better trained people in the U.S. than the USAR teams. What's more, incredibly specialized equipment is required that your average (or even above average) fire department just doesn't have sitting on the rig.

The costs are borne by the federal government. Was this deployment necessary, or not? I guess that's a matter of opinion; however, the decisions are made way further up the food chain than local city or USAR leaders. The team just goes when and where it's sent, and does what it's told (and trained and equipped) to do. That's part of the deal.

As for cost, the city will directly pay nothing for this deployment. The costs of the people on deployment (above their base pay) and the people paid to backfill for them are reimbursed through the federal government. By the way, the NE task force is one of the cheapest for the feds to put in the field-LFR firefighters are paid way less than, say, firefighters from L.A. or New York. So, actually, FEMA is getting a bargain. By the way, this is Lincoln, not Omaha; LFR pensions are figured at BASE PAY, overtime is not used in the pension calculation. Therefore, LFR employees cannot "spike" their pensions like their counterparts in Omaha can. Don't believe me? Look up the article the Journal Star ran when all that was going on in Omaha-the same information is there.

Any questions? "

 Kent wrote on July 24, 2008 11:48 am:
" Thanks for clearing things up LFR. I doubt it will silence the critics but there is always hope.

Correct me if I am wrong, but these teams are going to be dispatched anyways. If not our teams then another state's. So if people are worried about their tax dollars being "wasted" then wouldn't you want Nebraskan's tax dollars going to Nebraska teams who will in turn come back and put the money into our economy?

If anything wouldn't the fact they are getting dispatched offset some of the taxes people are angry about being wasted? Sure it doesn't go back into their direct pocket but it will come back to the state. "

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